When a client asks how many sessions it will take to resolve an issue, I always the same answer: Minimum of three, maximum of six.

I tell them many years ago when I started as a hypnotist, I was certain every client needed six sessions one week apart.  If they did not follow the prescribed sessions, they would be unsuccessful, I believed.

Amazingly, as I progressed in my career I realized six sessions in six weeks was financially hard for clients. Further, there did not appear to be a difference between clients who came every week and those who did not. I modified my approach to what it is today.

One exception to my general rule is a somnambulist. Outside of hypnotherapy a somnambulist is a sleepwalker. Within hypnotherapy, a somnambulist is a deep- level hypnotic candidate. He is the one  called up on stage at an entertainment  hypnosis show. A somnambulist never requires more than one or two sessions. One person in five is a somnambulist.

Just Checking

When a client completes six sessions, I suggest three followups, at three months, six months and one year. Experience tells me if people are going to revert to former ways, these are the times they are most vulnerable. If they come in to see me, it ensures that they stay on track.

Interesting to see how much of their sessions a client has maintained after the sixth. Do they remember the skills they were given? Or have they fallen back? int

Most already have forgotten what they learned about theory of the mind, suggestibility and behaviors. However, they retain their knowledge of self- hypnosis, tending to use it regularly. They find continuous improvements with their lives. 

Self-hypnosis is a powerful tool to h gain desired changes. 

Clients see hypnotists for all sorts of reasons. The success rate is 90 percent  when clients are motivated to create the sought changes. The hardest part to understand is how to talk to themselves in self-hypnosis. That is the key.

We all talk in a mixture of either directly or with inference. If I say “Jump” a direct person would jump. A person who takes information in by inference would first want to know why, and then how high to jump, backward or forward, left or right. Legs open or legs closed? A direct person does. An inference person thinks and asks questions to ensure compliance.

An example of a direct statement followed by an inference saying the same notion.

“No food or drink is permitted in the store.” (Direct)

“Thank you for leaving your food and drink outside.” (Inference)

When we talk out, it is opposite to the way we take information in. If you were 60 percent direct and 40 percent inference, you would talk out 60 percent inference and 40 percent direct. When you take information in, you take it in 60 direct, 40 inference. We learn communication from our primary caretakers, usually our mothers.

A Tempting Error

Most people make the same mistake when self-hypnotizing, talking with themselves as if they were talking to someone else. A person would want to talk to himself as if someone were speaking to him he is using the correct method.

Listen to the way you speak out. Understand how you take in information.  For excellent communication, you speak to a person in the opposite way the person is speaking to you.

Do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net