Hypnosis Scene

Probably most people don’t know that I, myself, am a certified hypnotist. I practiced as a hypnotist and a health coach in addition to being a physical therapist. So when it came time for N’Halia to resolve an emotional issue, how could I resist?

Miltona

Pretty much any English-speaking hypnotist would immediately recognize the name of the ‘Statician’, Miltona. Milton Erickson was one of the most famous hypnotists of all time. As a young man, he had polio which left him paralyzed. While he recovered the ability to walk, he suffered from post-polio syndrome in his 50’s and was confined to a wheelchair. He continued to go head on and was known to be a lively force to be reckoned with!

Several of the things Miltona does are characteristic of Erickson’s style. Those are detailed below. One thing in the book that keeps coming up is N’Halia meeting her stare. Erickson was known for his piercing stare that looked right through someone. He also was a collector of Native American pottery which is paralleled slightly in the book.

Waking communication

Hypnosis doesn’t start with the induction. It actually begins beforehand when the clinician will set the stage. This is often an information gathering stage, but also a time to plant seeds. Miltona does this by not only determining the problem, but also the solution – N’Halia learning to associate positive emotions with Lightning.

She also speaks in reflections. This is when you rephrase what someone just said back to them. It’s a way to elicit more information rather than asking questions. The problem with questions is that a person who doesn’t want to talk can bail out with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and then clam up. You see Miltona skirt around this by probing and making educated guesses. If she’s right, N’Halia agrees and talks more. If she’s wrong, N’Halia disagrees and corrects her. Both move in the direction of change since communication is happening.

Change work formula

A simple formula for change would be to orchestrate a situation where the client is exposed to the problem situation while simultaneously experiencing the desired, positive emotions – thus reacting in a new way. For the purposes of a short, but powerful chapter on change, this is exactly what Miltona does.

Hypnotic induction

Most hypnotic inductions tend to look like either progressive relaxation routines (relax your neck, your chest, yours arms…) or guided visualization routines (imagine you’re on the beach…). But this isn’t the only way. Rapid inductions, like what you see on TV or at a hypnosis show, rely on shock.

The process in the book is based on one of the most common routines in hypnosis called regression to cause. This is a dissociated reliving of the traumatic event while in trance. It allows the person to tap directly into the exact emotions that they need to change, though it also runs the risk of being the most emotionally upsetting (since it is the traumatic event). This is why clinicians often add ‘dissociation’ – emotional space. This is done by having the client imagine they’re watching from a distance or some other way that gives them a buffer from the full brunt of emotions.

Miltona only lets the scenario play out far enough to retrieve the emotions. It’s not necessary for N’Halia to go through the entire horrible memory. Once the negative emotions have been engaged, she has N’Halia experience the positive emotions (righteous anger and protectiveness). This is the new vessel that N’Halia learns to wield Lightning through.

The release of Lightning is, of course, symbolic of catharsis.

Spontaneous amnesia

Adding hypnotic amnesia was a very common thing Erickson did. This was to stop people from overanalyzing what they had just accomplished and essentially ‘talking themselves out of it.’ While a rudimentary form is to suggest they won’t remember the work, he opted for spontaneous amnesia most of the time since he used shock inductions.

Spontaneous amnesia works like this: conversation – shock induction in the middle of conversation – hypnosis – resume conversation right where you left off before the hypnosis. By forming a seamless ‘conversation sandwich’ essentially, the person’s conscious mind naturally cuts out the middle part (the hypnosis).

Conscious rationalization

If you look at the session from N’Halia’s conscious mind’s perspective here’s what happened: talk to Miltona – slight moment of disorientation – talk to Miltona. So even though the change has been made, what is missing? Well, from N’Halia’s perspective, the reason why the change was made! Since she forgot the actual hypnosis, she’s still expecting them to have a session.

Miltona knows this and so she has prepared a ‘fake’ session. This is the Lightning brain stimulation visualization exercises she does with N’Halia. She’s not doing them to solve the problem – she’s doing it so that N’Halia has a reason to believe her problem is solved. That way she won’t go poking around in her memories and potentially disrupt the change. In change work, we often say that good change is like pouring cement. You need to let it set before you stand on it.

Next up

Hope you enjoyed the scene and found the rationale interesting! Next post will be moving on to certain details of some of the main characters physical appearance.