A few more comments on Leveraging Suggestibility Tests into Hypnosis from the Hypnosis Technique Exchange.

A correspondent hypnotist in Africa asks how I handle things if I use the "finger magnet" suggestibility test which relies more on a physiological response than on pure suggestion, especially if a client notices the effect and says so, as some folks will then believe that the hypnotist is trying to trick them or that hypnosis is a gimmick.

That’s a very very good question and the answer is likewise very straightforward. Don’t set it up as a gimmick or a trick but as an initial step in a sequence and make sure to go directly into a set that uses more suggestion than physiological response and point that out to the client.

Yes, I have had folks spot the physiological factor but in many cases I also come right out and tell folks . . . I never use that test as a standalone . . . I run it the traditional way with the physiological wedge effect and then continue with other tests and make sure I finish with something that does NOT have a physiological effect.

The standard physiological finger magnet is only used to engage the imagination and then move on directly to other effects in the series that use less physical response and more suggestive response.

For folks who have noticed the physical response right away (and often for other folks as I continue my pretalk on imagination, concentration, and engagement), I will often go right into a variation of the finger magnet that does not rely upon a physical response so you can build confidence in the suggestive process.

The variation is what I mentioned before. Instead of interlacing the fingers as in the traditional version, make two fists with the index fingers of both hands extended. Put the two fists together so the thumbs are parallel and touching with the faces of the fingers in the fists touching their corresponding fingers on the other fist . . . the index fingers are now about two to three inches apart, more or less depending upon the size of the hands . . . then run the suggestions for "finger magnets" . . . with this configuration of the hands, there is much less of a physical effect as in the traditional interlaced fists where the fingers must move to a touch. In this variation, you are dealing much more reliably with a suggested effect.

The same goes with the handclasp and arm lock tests (and instant inductions), there are variations that rely wholly upon physiological response that is nearly universal and there variations in hand positions that relax the muscles so that the effect is suggestive rather than physiological.

If using the traditional finger magnets, then move directly into something else so there is no time for critical processing and move into a graduated set from purely physiological effects (not really suggestibility testing but a sequence intended to capture and engage the imagination in order to aid in critical factor bypass). Don’t use physiological effects on their own and claim they are purely hypnotic, you will get caught out or . . . at the very least . . . you won’t have an appropriate gauge as to how far you’ve engaged and intensified the imaginative experience (achieved heightened
suggestibility).

These things are not merely intended to test suggestibility but to heighten it.

Make sense?

I have a whole slew of imaginative suggestibility games in the archives here that you can play around with. They are – for the most part – listed in order of difficulty and heightened suggestive component.

All the best,
Brian

Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]Certified Hypnotherapist
Executive Director, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.briandavidphillips.com

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