Rapid Inductions

Something that I have become aware of recently is that although my background has been in rapid inductions there are a lot of hypnotists out there who don't use them, or at least not as their bread and butter. Strangely enough this really hadn't occurred to me because most of the hypnotists I know have come into this game through the same route as me. I take these inductions for granted, and after all how could anyone go about it any other way?

However as I meet more people who practice hypnosis, both online and at HypnoMeets, I am beginning to realise there are hypnotists out there who don't know much about the wonderful field of rapid inductions.

There are, of course, also people who are new to learning hypnosis who might also benefit from a bit of an introduction. Some of the best advice I was given when I started out consisted of "look up *this* induction" and so on.

For these reasons that I thought that a blog post about the rapid inductions I use is long overdue.

So what is a rapid induction? Pretty much every hypnotist who uses them will give you a different answer according on their personal views. The working definitions below are mine, and probably the furthest from definitive one can get, but I find they work for me.

For me a rapid induction is an induction that puts someone into hypnosis within a couple of minutes. Of course having done so there's the subsequent deepening that follows, but here I'm only going to talk about the induction itself. It's also important to point out that rapid inductions are no more difficult than the slower more traditional inductions. At least that's how I find it.

I personally make the distinction between a rapid induction and an instant induction, although I guess instants are really a subcategory of rapids. To me an instant induction is any induction that uses a shock element to induce trance. I'll write more on these inductions in a subsequent post.

So what I'll do is list and describe the rapid inductions I've tried so far. I won't go into a full set of instructions but where I can I'll put linkage to where I learned them from.

• Rehearsal Induction
• Magnetic hands induction
• Elman anticipation induction
• Hand-to-eye fixation induction
• Bandler handshake induction
• Erickson handshake induction

Rehearsal Induction
This induction is probably the most effective induction I know, and that includes slower traditional inductions. The variation I know is taken directly from Anthony Jacquin's book Reality is plastic, in which he boasts that he's never failed to hypnotise anybody using this induction. A rehearsal induction technique, which Ant says his version is based on, is also outlined in Training Trances, by Overdurf & Silverthorn.

In this induction the hypnotist links raising the subject's arm in a certain way with going into hypnosis, possibly demonstrating on their own arm first. They then raise the subject's arm in a "rehearsal" of going into hypnosis, and then lower it to bring them back. Repeating this process several times induces hypnosis in the subject.

This induction is the first I ever did, and it worked perfectly. I would say it's an ideal method for the first time hypnotist because each lift of the arm is just a "rehearsal" and so there's plenty of time to pluck up the courage to make that first leap of faith that the subject is in hypnosis and move on to deepening.

Magnetic hands induction
This induction also comes out of Reality is plastic, although I've also read about it in Jon Chase's Deeper and Deeper.

The magnetic hands trick in itself itself can be used as a nice opener to get a subject in the right mindset for hypnosis. It is what Anthony Jacquin and many who have learned from his book refer to as a "set piece", or otherwise known to some as a "suggestibility test". I agree with Ant's assertion that the term "test" is best avoided, although I have learned the hard way that if I try this with someone and they don't respond it's probably not worth trying my trying to formally hypnotise them; I usually tell them to keep trying and find somebody else.

If you're reading this as someone who is curious about hypnosis but have never experienced it you can try this set piece right now. Place your arms out in front of you at shoulder height with your palms facing each other. Close your eyes, and imagine a magnetic force pulling your hands together. Concentrate on and imagine that idea, what it would look like and how it would feel. Your hands should move together by themselves, and this is a phenomenon known as the ideomotor effect.

Whilst my usual use for magnetic hands is to show it to someone to get them interested and then move on to another induction, it can be used as an induction in itself. The moment those hands start moving together that is a hypnotic phenomenon and the subject is already experiencing hypnosis, albeit informally. All one has to do is formalise it by having them anticipate the moment when the hands come together as the point they go into hypnosis, and as that happens tell them to "sleep" and bring their arms down to their lap.

Elman anticipation induction
Not to be confused with the Elman induction. The anticipation induction is a favourite of mine, and yet I can't remember where I first came across it. I think it was a YouTube video, but I've since been unable to find it. This induction is very simple, and yet it works very well and it's absolutely brilliant for a subject who's been hypnotised before, as a re-induction, or else for someone with a neon sign over their head saying "Natural Somnambulist".

As it's so simple I will post a description. It goes something like this:

"I'm going to click my fingers three times. On the first click you are going to let your whole body relax. On the Second click your eyes are going to feel heavy and you're going to let them close. On the third click you will go into a deep state of hypnosis."

"1... feeling relaxed... 2... let your eyes close... 3... deep asleep..."

That's all there is to it!

Hand-to-eye fixation induction
This is another technique outlined in Reality is plastic and for a while it was my favoured induction.

The hypnotist takes the subject's hand and holds it so their palm is about 30cm from their face. They then direct the subject to look at a point on that hand, and as the hand is moved toward the subject's face the subject is told to notice the changing focus of their eyes. This allows the hypnotist to pace and lead the subject to close their eyes and go into hypnosis. The whole induction, before deepening, takes about 30 seconds.

Bandler handshake induction
This is also outlined in Reality is plastic, and the best way to find examples of this is to search YouTube for "handshake induction". It's basically the above hand-to-eye induction but in a different context. The hypnotist goes to shake the subject's hand but before making contact, as the subject is expecting, the hypnotist instead catches the subject's right wrist with their left hand in order to bring the subject's right hand up in front of their face.

This takes advantage of what's called a motor pattern interrupt. Think of the last time you climbed a flight of stairs and thought there was one more than there actually was. Get the subconscious to execute a learned routine, such as a handshake, and then interrupt it by having something unexpected happen and it will result in that moment of confusion where the subconscious screams out for instructions. If the hypnotist exploits this window of opportunity, which maybe lasts for as long as a second and a half, they can get their instructions in first and the result is a rabbit-in-headlights effect all the way down into trance.

I have at least one friend who now refuses to shake my hand again after I used this on them.

Erickson handshake induction
How could I write about rapid inductions without a quick mention of my favourite induction. Of course I've already outlined this induction here and here, so I won't say much more about it here.

This induction uses Milton Model language patterns and an ambiguous support of the subject's arm to induce trance. It's quite an unusual experience for the subject in that it trances them with their eyes open. It's also quite tricky because it involves the hypnotist doing several things at once. I've practiced on seven people so far and I still have a heck of a long way to go before I'll be happy with my technique.

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Anyway I hope this has been a useful introduction to the world of rapid inductions. I intend to write again in a few days on the subject of instant inductions, which are even more fun!

Be sure to leave a comment if you have any thoughts to add or any questions you want to ask.