This question came to me via a Facebook message but I suggested our correspondent post to the Hypnosis Technique Exchange at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypnosisTechniqueExchange for a quicker reply so my response is in reference to the thread there.
You've already received good solid advice both here and via your facebook query to various folks. However, here are some thoughts I had which may or may not prove useful . . . take 'em or leave 'em, it's up to you.
"When you have an intellectual"
How do you know he's an intellectual or that this is what his barrier to responsiveness is? What is the specific feedback that points to this?
"who is having a hard time getting hypnotized"
Getting hypnotized as in someone doing it to him or being guided into hypnosis? Which are you doing, hypnotizing him or guiding him into hypnosis? Perhaps if he needs to control the situation then signpost that you're just a guide but that he's driving the car.
"(Won't let eyes relax even with proper preinduction and too much thinking)"
His eyes won't relax or he just won't close 'em. If he won't close 'em I would ask WHY. If it's a comfort issue then I do an eyes open induction and session. Hypnosis doesn't require eye closure. If he's just being a bit of a dick about following instructions, I explain that for this whole thing to work he has to follow my directions. If he still won't then I boot him.
If it's that he thinks he's relaxing but can't really do it, I understand that many people honestly don't know how to relax. They TRY and fail or think they are relaxed when really they're full of tension.
For the relaxation thing, do the finger and arm relaxation test (it's on my webpage at http://www.briandavidphillips.com in resources under imaginative suggestibility games) and teach him how to relax properly with arm tests. I belive the handshake induction video that my eXperiential Hypnosis Newsletter - http://www.briandavidphillips.com/newsletter/index.html - subscribers get free access to has this very test as well as the followup arm test too. Many people honestly don't know how to relax so you have to guide them with babysteps, I tend to make it playful and engaging so as not to have them feel they are under pressure to perform.
"and using emotional language what do you do?"
What do you mean by "emotional language"?
Do you mean that he's getting pissed off at you or that he responds to things emotionally or that he's getting frustrated at failing?
If he's getting pissed off then it's not his approach, it's yours. You need to gain rapport and trust before you even begin the induction.
If he's frustrated, then stop making him feel like he's failing. I make sure that folks do not feel like they are being tested on a pass fail basis but that I am using responses to gauge how I should proceed with guiding them. Use "imagination game" rather than "suggestibility test" or the like.
If he uses emotional language as in he's an emotional responder, then have him close his eyes and describe his emotions and then intensify and if he is uncomfortable closing his eyes do it with eyes open . . . when we experience strong emotions we are in trance and that can be converted into hypnosis. If you are untrained in this sort of approach, then get some solid training.
"So far I've been just saying "you are getting there, the harder you fight it the easier it becomes, and fighting it isn't the reason you are here.""
Is he "fighting it"? How do you know? What feedback tells you he's fighting the process rather than merely trying to follow your instructions but is having difficulty?
Personally, while I appreciate there are folks who are contrary respnders or resistance utilizations, if someone honestly fights me every step of the way, I have no patience for 'em and send 'em away. If they are "fighting" me, I have better things to do with my time than play their games. However, if they are having difficulty responding because they don't understand my directions or they don't know how to relax or whatever, I don't refer to that as fighting, I just see it as a response that I can build from. However, if it's an antagonistic response, I have better things to do and let them know they must either follow the directions to the best of their ability or schedule an appointment when they are ready to do so.
"THen if fails I say we need to try under other circumstance."
Please rethink your language here. You are setting him and yourself up to FAIL and TRY and FAIL again. If you leave him with a sense of failure and frustration then your work is a LOT harder than the next time than it needs to be . . . IF he bothers to make that next attempt.
Remember these phrases, they are magickal and help . . . regardless of result "that's right, you're doing perfectly" . . . "notice the difference in how that feels now, allow that difference to grow at it's own pace" . . . "with each breath, allow that to intensify" . . . "allow yourself to pretend to allow yourself to feel AS IF it's really happening as strongly as your imagination allows you to experience it now" . . . and the rest.
"But how do you proceed?"
As above and as you've received advice from others.
Use something that doesn't take so long, a confusion piece such as the arm rolls (faster – reverse – etc.).
Do keep in mind that some folks are just damned hard to work with. Sometimes it's because they have a very very specific idea, sometimes realistic, sometimes less so) of what is to be expected of the experience and even your explanations fall on deaf ears. Look into your process and his responses and endeavor to determine if the failure is on you (as implied by your query) or on him for bypassing everything you say to guide him.
I hope this has been helpful.
All the best,
Brian
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Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [brian@briandavidphillips.com]
Hypnotist, Hypnotherapist, Intuitionist, Trance Wizard
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
