Certificate in Ericksonian Hypnotherapy (Hypnosis Training)

Learn about the early days of hypnosis, through to when hypnosis became 'hypnotism'

Learn about the development of mesmerism into hypnotism and some of the key figures during that time

Learn about hypnosis being the root of modern psychotherapy - the PDF slides can be downloaded

Learn about Milton H Erickson MD and some of the influence he had on modern psychotherapy

Lecture about trance and focus of attention

Lecture exploring some of the responses people give when they are in a trance that hypnotists can look out for and notice

The trance used by hypnotherapists is the optimal learning state. This lecture explores how this is the state used within hypnotherapy.

A lecture about how hypnosis can be induced and how 'hypnosis' is induced by 'triggering' or facilitating an aspect of the process leading to dreaming sleep.

A lecture about guiding attention to help people access hypnosis or a trance state.

All of the demonstrations you will see through this course, and the one at the beginning of the course involve guiding and focusing attention so when you watch or listen to the demonstrations you can pay attention to how I am guiding and focusing attention and notice what I am guiding and focusing attention towards.

A lecture about ultradian rhythms. Ultradian rhythms include the Basic Rest and Activity Cycle (BRAC) which is our 'everyday trance cycle' where we enter an inner focus roughly every 90-120 minutes, and between this we raise to a peak of activity and external focus.

First video in a 3-part lecture introducing why it is useful to use hypnosis

Continuing on the 'Why Use Hypnosis' lecture.

Part 03 continuing the 'Why Use Hypnosis' lecture.

A lecture about using a positive focus of communication and how important this is especially in the highly responsive state of hypnosis, and then exploring how the type of trance experience someone has varies depending on how it is induced.

Lecture discussing trance depth, trance absorption, and state-dependant learning and behaviour.

Learn about observation and its importance to Ericksonian Hypnotherapy

Learn about utilisation and its importance to Ericksonian Hypnotherapy

In this hypnotic induction demonstration I am demonstrating utilising my observations of the client. The hypnosis induction is about 'describing about how I go into hypnosis' but that isn't what I am doing, that is what I tell the client I am doing. What I am really doing is observing the client and my description is actually of the client's ongoing experience and as they follow along and with the context being that what I am describing means going into hypnosis, they follow along and start to go into hypnosis. The information I focus on in my description to the client is the information which is relevant to entering and relaxed inwardly focused state and by focusing more on these observations rather than just commenting on all behaviours etc, this helps to guide them into hypnosis.

Learn how you can use observation and utilisation, and the importance of listening to and using client feedback

This lecture explores the three pillars of Ericksonian Hypnotherapy, observation, utilisation and having a clearly defined goal.

The 'My Friend John' induction is probably one of the most famous Ericksonian inductions The idea is that you talk about your hypothetical friend or client 'John' and describe how they were curious about hypnosis and about how to enter hypnosis and what happens as you go into hypnosis, so you explained this to them.

Your actual client is then listening along to you talking about this other person unaware that you are actually hypnotising them. What you are really doing is using observation, utilisation and having a goal (the three pillars of Ericksonian hypnosis) to hypnotise the client in front of you. So your goal at this stage is to guide the client into hypnosis, so you are observing for behaviours the client does that are related to this, like unconscious movements or times they are naturally drifting inside their mind and these are what you talk about to the client about 'John'

So you may say "So I explained...as you start to drift into hypnosis, so your breathing begins to slow down." this would be timed to match when the client in front of you is breathing out, you are using a presupposition (which you will learn about later in the course - presuppositions are words like: before, during, while, as, after, when - they are words that imply something, so "as you start to drift into hypnosis" implies you are drifting into hypnosis) to imply 'this is happening', you are using an embedded command by pausing between 'explained' and 'as' and you are using a linking suggestion by linking the first part of the sentence "as you start to drift into hypnosis," with a second part of the sentence "so your breathing begins to slow down", you are using vague language that contains very little information so they have to fill in the blanks themselves and it is difficult to challenge the comments because you don't know what 'drifting into hypnosis' feels like, and 'as you start' means even if you don't notice that you are drifting into hypnosis there could be signs a hypnotist can notice that you just aren't aware of yet so it is difficult to disagree that you are drifting into hypnosis, likewise as long as the breathing rate hasn't increased (in which case you wouldn't give a suggestion like this) the client is unlikely to be able to tell or disagree with whether their breathing has slowed because even a very small imperceptible slowing would count as slowing which they wouldn't notice.

So all you are really doing is observing the client, taking your observations and utilising them by suggesting to the client what you are observing in them that is in the direction of going into hypnosis. The use of all the Ericksonian language patterns I have mentioned above (which is all covered later in the course) come naturally out of just using the three pillars, so a simple sentence like "so I explained...as you start to drift into hypnosis, so your breathing begins to slow down" is packed with many different hypnotic language patterns and techniques.

A lecture introducing you to Ericksonian 'Conversational' Hypnotic Language Patterns

Learn about the agreement set, what it is, how to use it, and why you would use it in hypnosis and therapy

Some further examples to support your learning around the agreement set

Learn about linking suggestions, what they are, how to use them and why to use them in hypnosis and therapy

Further examples to help with learning about linking suggestions

Learn about presuppositions and how to use them, and why you would use them to enhance your effectiveness with hypnosis and therapy.

All of the hypnotic induction demonstrations on this course use presuppositions, you can go back and review past demonstrations and listen out during future demonstrations for presupposition use.

Some further examples to help with learning about presuppositions

Learn about vague language and how vague language can increase your effectiveness with hypnosis and therapy

Further examples relating to vague language to help with learning the topic

An mp3 self hypnosis demonstration made almost exclusively of vague language to help people find inner wellbeing. This self hypnosis mp3 demonstrates how vague language can be used hypnotically and can be listened to educationally to notice how what has been taught in the vague language lecture can be applied

This lectures teaches you about the Ericksonian Language Patterns of binds and double binds, and how they offer an illusion of choice but only really have one outcome.

Examples of binds to help with developing your knowledge further

Learn about how commands and suggestions can be used within Ericksonian Hypnotherapy, learn how to give covert, indirect commands and suggestions in a conversational way and why this can be helpful.

All of the hypnosis demonstrations throughout this course demonstrate the use of commands and suggestions as this is the main thing you are doing in an induction, whether it is embedded commands and suggestions within talking about my experiences of going into hypnosis, or when describing to 'my friend John' what it is like to go into hypnosis, or commands and suggestions given during linking suggestions or double binds, or when working within the agreement set. So you can watch any of demonstrations from this course to see how commands and suggestions are being used.

What often happens is when you re-watch demonstrations having learnt a bit more knowledge you see more of what is going on,even during the seemingly most basic demonstration, so I highly recommend as you continue through this course you review the demonstrations multiple times because you will get more out of them each time you watch them because you will know to look for more of what is taking place.

Further examples to help with learning about commands and suggestions and how to apply them in hypnosis and therapy

Learn about how metaphors and analogies can be used in hypnosis and therapy. For a clear demonstration of metaphors and analogies being used as part of inducing hypnosis and being used therapeutically listen to the 'Ericksonian Hypnotherapy Demo' mp3 in a few lectures time at the end of this section on Ericksonian Language Patterns. This demonstration includes examples of everything you will have learnt being put together into a therapeutic hypnosis track.

Further examples around metaphor and analogy use to help with learning

Rounding up what you have learnt about Ericksonian Language Patterns and the next steps with developing your skills at using them

A self hypnosis mp3 that is to help the listener to feel accepted and change their perspective on their life and feel more serene and increase their wellbeing. It is included here as a demonstration of 'putting it all together'. So this session uses Ericksonian Language Patterns as a full self hypnosis therapy session. You can listen to it as a self help product, or as a training product where you can analyse what I am saying and doing, and why I am saying and doing what I am doing.

These are further examples of Ericksonian Hypnotic Language Patterns being used to help you to get ideas and to increase your knowledge about how they can be applied within hypnosis and therapy

This lecture teaches you a structure to use when you are doing hypnotherapy with clients, this structure gives you a template to follow to connect with a client, get gather useful information, know how to use that information and know what you need to do during the session, through to working therapeutically and to integrating more formal hypnosis.

This is further information about the RIGAAR model

This lecture is a PDF you will need to download

This is a full transcript of a hypnotherapy session helping someone to improve their artistic abilities. This transcript is annotated with my description of what is taking place through the session, of the techniques I am using and why I am using those techniques. This transcript breaks down a full one hour hypnotherapy session showing how I am building rapport and getting a agreement and engagement with the client (Rapport Building from RIGAAR), how I am gathering information relevant to the goal for the session and for what the client wants beyond the session (Information Gathering and Goal Setting from RIGAAR), I don't necessarily explicitly 'Agree a Strategy' (from RIGAAR) but I do state the strategy and how this is being done implicitly, I didn't see a need to state it explicitly, I demonstrate and describe how I am accessing resources from within the client (Accessing Resource from RIGAAR) and I have some mental rehearsal during the session (Rehearsal from RIGAAR).

I go into as much detail as I can to explain what I am doing and how I am using all the techniques and knowledge you have learnt during this session. The effects of this session still continue to this day with the client continuing to have improved artistic abilities. The client says his musical abilities he has developed since this session in about 2005 also came from his creativity and changes to his thinking that all developed from this session.

A summary of the whole course, discussing what you have learnt.

I highly recommend now that you have completed the course you go back and re-watch and listen to the various demonstrations, because you will have far more knowledge now of things to look for. Each demonstration contains a rich array of techniques being used so you can watch demonstrations for example about the agreement set and this time instead of watching it for how agreement is being used you could watch for double binds, or linking suggestions, or use of commands and suggestions, or for use of vague language. Each demonstration contains far more than what I was using it to demonstrate.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this course, only a small percentage of people are self-motivated enough to get to this point, so congratulation in your achievement.