Once again, discussion turns to one of my favorite hypnosis inductions, this time adapting a one-on-one induction to groups . . . Elman Induction for Group Hypnosis . . . folks in the Taipei Experimental Hypnosis Workshop know that this is one of my favorite hypnosis inductions and they also know that when I do it, I do it fast and folks go deep. Loads of fun and very very effective.

On one of the discussion lists:

Last year I brought up the idea of using the Elman induction for use in group hypnosis. I did get some ideas but noone that had actually tried it. I was wondering if anyone had tried it and what type of success they met with.

I’ve never actually “tried” it but I “use” it with a great deal of success all the time. Does that count?

It sounds reasonable to me to use one of the best inductions available today and adapt it to a group setting. It has worked very well for me in an indiviual basis and I would really like to use it for group, all experiences are welcome.

Basically, do everything you do with the regular Elman except do it for groups. There is a longer discussion of this from an archive post here at Life of Brian on the Group Elman Inducton which may help you. Obviously, there will be some tricky parts for you . . . . . The eye test is problematic so you will either run it as is and watch everyone which is near impossible with large groups or gloss it . . . . . the arm catalepsy test which can simply be glossed with the standard “your arm is so heavy and droopy that it just doesn’t move” which some folks use but I prefer to substitute the classic “balloons tied to your arms” test instead so I can see the movements within the group and use that feedback appropriately (those who are not reacting need some more patter and explanations, those who are can continue to deepen – since I tie arm raising to “happy balloons” or feeling good, they can deepen that sort of imaginative involvement. Alternatively, you can simply walk around the group and do the arm test . . . . . most folks panic with the numbers test, no need, just use patter to the extent that you will do the counting and they can just relax more and more.

Note that with any group induction, you’re going to have hits and misses. This is in large part because you can’t work the feedback loop and personalize your patter within the induction to individuals. Invariably, there will be folks who are naturally suggestible who pop right on out and get bored waiting for you patter to catch up (so always throw in feel good deepening patter so they can at least enjoy themselves . . . “with every breath in feeeeeel goooooood and with each and every breath out relax wayyyyyy dowwwwnnn and the like”) and there will be asuggestives who normally are a little more difficult to work with who really shine in being a challenge for group inductions. Keep an eye on the crowd so you can catch these and do some individual patter within the session to get them into it.

You MUST have a strong pre-talk for group inductions. Make sure EVERYONE who is participating knows the ground rules of what will be expected of them and what will happen and that their misconceptions are dealt with. Don’t ASSume that everyone knows as much as you do or that they all have the same ideas about hypnosis. Describe what it is, explain what you’re going to do, tell them what you’re doing as you do it, and then debrief about what you did when it’s finished.

Gerry Kein has some good resources on group Elman inductions.

If you are familiar with my Deep Relaxation Trigger Response Conditioning files at the DRTRC site, the Fractionation Relaxation Conditioning file is actually based upon a Group Elman approach. The long Primary Conditioning file incorporates the Elman as well as four other induction processes used as deepeners. This is NOT the only way to do Group Elman, it is merely how I did it at that time for that recording set. There are many ways to do this. A recorded induction is basically a group induction that has been processed for no feedback at all from the audience of listeners (in live group events you can still use a very small amount of feedback to modify your approach but it is based upon group rather than individual responses and so while it may be useful to the group, it may not be as effective for a particular individual while an individual session would be based wholy upon the feedback responses and could be very effective for that individual due to the customization and tailoring of the approach).

I hope this has been helpful.

All the best,
Brian