The technique begins by asking the client or participant(s) to stare at the object of their

choice (wall, etc.). I ask the client to then take three deep breaths, following my simple

instructions, and closing the eyes upon the third breath. Then, the instructions are: open

your eyes on odd numbers, and close your eyes on even numbers.

100, just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and relax...

99, open them, take another deep breath, and 98--eyes closed. Very good. Just

imagine you're releasing all the cares of the day as easily as you release the air

from your lungs. . . 97, find it's getting more difficult to even try to open your

eyes. 96, eyes closed. Good. Just find yourself wanting to go deeper and deeper

as you forget whether your eyes should be open or closed. . .

95, easy to forget. 94, difficult to remember, whether they should be closed. . .

and as soon as you forget, they stay closed and you can just relax even deeper.

93, good, 92. . . deeper and deeper relaxed. . . It's so easy to respond to my voice

as I say 91, 90. . . and your eyes just want to stay closed now.

Start speaking somewhat quicker and with more authority now.

88, 86. Deeper and deeper. Easy to forget, difficult to remember, 84-82, whether

they should be open or closed. 79, 75, 74. The numbers are skipping away so

quickly now that you just find yourself wanting to go deeper as your eyes want to

stay closed. And every time you forget to remember, or remember to forget, open

or closed, odd or even, you just go deeper and deeper, or deeper and deeper. 60,

50. Eyes closed and going deeper. Forgetting to remember. Remembering to

forget. 40, 30. Feeling good. Responding to my voice. Relaxing hypnosis. Deeper

and deeper.

Once your client leaves his/her eyes totally closed during an odd number, the moment

of passivity has usually occurred. You may stop the counting if you wish and follow

immediately with deepening suggestions (explained in Chapter 6), or continue on as

part of the deepening.

In the above technique, Charles Tebbetts taught that you may enhance the mental

confusion with incomplete sentences, or by bringing unrelated sentences and

meaningless statements into the sleep and relaxation suggestions. He gave Dr. Milton

Erickson credit for this idea both in his class at Edmonds as well as in his book,

MIRACLES ON DEMAND.

Note that the above script is intended as a guide only. In my opinion, scripts are like

training wheels; they are to serve you until you can master the art without needing the

training wheels! Add your own personality and style, adapting to each individual client.

However, in a group setting, you may wish to use a script. Note that I often use a few

added trance-enhancers, such as double-binds and challenge suggestions. Normally I'll

include a suggestion such as:

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It's so easy to imagine your peaceful place, that you can also imagine getting

sleepy, with your eyelids heavy, droopy and drowsy...in fact, your eyelids may

feel so heavy that even if you try to open them, you find they just want to stay

shut, and you go MUCH deeper...double the hypnosis or triple the trance. Very

good...deeper and deeper...into the realm of hypnotic sleep, or into profound

hypnosis.

In addition, I frequently give a time distortion suggestion at the end of the journey, just

prior to awakening. This often adds to the impact of the experience, leaving only the

most ardent analytical resister with traces of skepticism.

Be aware that some clients may experience a partial hypnotic amnesia because of the

suggestions "Forget to remember, or rememberi to forget?" You may need to give

specific suggestions for the client to remember those portions of the session where

recall is desired. Also, the use of a time distortion suggestion just prior to awakening

can add to the effect of the session, providing further trance validation to an analytical

person.

If you've not yet employed a mental confusion induction, learn it and use it. Also, if

you've never experienced being hypnotized with a mental confusion induction, you owe

it to yourself and your clients to experience it for yourself! Find a hypnotist in your area

and trade sessions.

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