learning Ericksonian hypnosis | a practical experience

Welcome to this experience.

If you are new to this approach, this experience can be an easy “taster”. If you are already familiar with it, this can be the sort of useful reminder that can serve us all.

Please forward this on to anyone – anyone – who might be interested, and also feel free to leave a comment any time.

Again – welcome to this experience.

Rob

let’s begin!
what is hypnosis?

Hypnosis has been associated with magic, with sorcery, with anaesthesia.

Magic is a function of the power of the magician who does his magic on a passive individual. Stage hypnotists perpetuate this.

Sorcery is a function of the power of the words in a spell that act on a passive individual. Hypnotic scripts perpetuate this.

Anaesthesia is a function of the power of the anaesthetic agent to act on a passive individual. Terminology persists – go under, put under, go unconscious … etc. and traditional hypnosis assumes that hypnosis makes someone more suggestible to “psychological surgery” so a problem can be removed and replaced with a solution.

Erickson spoke of hypnosis as a special form of communication with a client, and included the client in the active process of learning. This inclusion of the client adds to the effectiveness since the experience is evoked from within the client, and not interjected form the exterior. The client becomes the expert, the agent of change, and the therapist is the facilitator or midwife to the natural birth of the client’s own experience. This avoids all the fears around control and reinstates the client’s dignity and allows for the restoration of them trusting themselves again, all in a mood of mutual respect.

Here are some ideas to reflect on:-

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Exercise:
Notice when you or others are having the experience of focused absorption – what Erickson called “the every day trance” – and be open to be surprised how ubiquitous this is!

Further reading. If you’re interested you could look at Ericksonian hypnotherapy

setting the scene …
an invitation

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in preparation
In preparation for this programme, I invite you to give yourself permission to be an a mood of play, enjoyment, and be willing to make mistakes, to get it wrong.

It would be useful to find one or more colleagues, family members or friends who would be willing to let you practice with them. The more opportunities you make to practice, the richer and more useful your learning will be.

It would also contribute to your learning if you would leave some comments, and read comments made by others. We can then learn together, with each other and have multiple ideas and experiences.

Here is a short talk I recorded about the solution approach generally to set the scene for what will follow.

I also invite you to visit the hypnosis faculty of Your Global Multiversity to see what additional ideas may be stimulated.

There are no prescribed texts, but my ebook book “Creating connections in hypnosis” is relevant for those who might want to explore further. You can buy it here.

invitations into hypnosis
I prefer to invite someone into hypnosis rather than “induce” them. An induction is something that happens with aneasthetics.

We have begun with the assumption that hypnosis is an experience which starts with focus, then leads to absorption, that we can agree as hypnosis.

This allows a respectful, natural starting point if we simply ask a client if it would be OK for them to continue doing whatever they are doing. Since they are already doing that, the question about can they becomes irrelevant. Next we can offer the idea that they could begin to focus on some aspect of their experience. Then we can ask if it would be OK if they were to become more absorbed in that experience.

When anyone begins to focus on something and becomes absorbed, there are a cluster of ordinary physiological changes that follow, usually unnoticed. If we articulate these changes, they become more obvious and are enhanced. We can comment on changes in breathing [usually a slowing and deepening], an alteration of the blinking [usually slowing, sometimes fluttering, often a tendency to close]. Commenting in this way enhances the focus and absorption and eases the client into their own focused, absorbed experience, which we are now calling hypnosis.

Following this process, there is no intrusion, no instructing, no imposition, rather a gentle, respectful invitation.

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Exercise:
With a client, or willing friend or family member, follow this outline and see what happens. [The worst that can happen is nothing.] What do you notice when you comment on the physiological changes?

accessing resources
Erickson told me “When a client come to see you, they always bring their solution with them, only they don’t know that. So have a very nice time, talking with your client, helping them to discover the solution they brought that they didn’t know that they brought.”

This delighted me in principle, but left a problem – how do we do that?

We have noticed that when anyone does something they like to do, they have all the resources they need to be in that activity, to adjust to any problems that happen, to correct any mistakes. When there’s a problem they deal with it, otherwise they would hardly like to experience.

If we then begin a hypnosis session by asking what a client likes to do, as they explore their likes, their mood predictably lifts, and we find ourselves as two human beings exploring some enjoyable activity, and in a mood of resourcefulness.

Further, if we invite a client to recall their liked activity, this can provide an experience which can then allow for focus and absorption – an invitation into hypnosis! We can comment on the physiological changes that we can observe – their stillness, slowing of and deepening of their breathing, alterations in their blinking, etc..

We can add to the texture of their experience by asking them for details – what they can see, hear, smell, taste … all the senses …

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Exercise. When you are working with a hypnosis client, family member, friend or colleague ask them if it would be OK to “go to their likes” – to go fishing / cycling / reading … and then invite focus and absorption, commenting on observable changes.

problem and solution language
Clients come for hypnosis because they have a problem. Rather than asking “What’s the problem?”, we can ask something like “What could we discus here today that would be useful to you?”, or “If you got the result you wanted today, what would that be?”.

These questions give a bias towards a solution answer rather than inviting a long history of events which may have only minimal relevance.

We saw that asking a client what is is about their likes that they like gives us a window into their being. We can ask a similar question about their problem. We can ask them about what in particular is problematic about their problem; what is it about the problem that is most troubling to them. This allows us both to discover what concern is being threatened by the problem, and when we articulate this with the client, the result is a solid affirming of the being of this person.

If a client wants to get over their flying difficulty, and we ask how this is a problem to them, we can discover that being comfortable / trusting others or themselves / traveling to see their family … of course this will be different for each individual. When we state these concerns back to a client – “Being comfortable / trusting others or yourself / traveling to see your family” this predictably results in a client feeling validated, legitimised, and more present and so more able to take the required steps in their learning.

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Exercise:
How many ways can you ask a client about their problem so that there is a move towards a solution?
When you asked about what was problematic about their problem, what did you discover? Was this new for the client as well?

what’s missing?
In a tradition approach to hypnosis, questions might be asked about what’s wrong here that needs to be fixed. Information will be gathered to make a diagnosis so treatment can begin.

In the solution approach, we are assuming that a client has a problem, not because there is something wrong that needs correcting, but there is something they are overlooking, become disconnected from, forgotten. So we are likely to ask overtly, or at least have in the background “What’s missing for you, that if you had it, you would be OK?”.

What’s missing may be an action – doing / not doing something, an ability – to be able to … , an emotion – safety, comfort, confidence … , some resource. We are assuming that this client has become disconnected from this resource, not because it is deeply buried in the depths of their unconscious, but more that it’s so much on the surface that it has been overlooked.

When we establish what is missing, then we can begin the search, with the client, for this missing resource or experience.

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Exercise:
Ask a client, or someone you can practice with about what might be missing for them that would make a difference.

finding what’s missing
We previously played with the experience of inviting someone to go to their likes, and by focusing and becoming absorbed in this experience, they were able to predictably and respectfully find their own way into hypnosis, with us ratifying any changes to add to their experience.

Because, as we have seen, likes are resource rich. We only like something because we have it handled. This leads to the delightful discovery that whatever may be missing for a client in their problem situation will always be present in their likes.

So with a client focused and absorbed in their likes, we can ask them to look around and find whatever had been missing for them.

It can be a real delight when we witness a client finding this resource, like an extension of finding the missing car keys, book, or telephone bill.

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connecting with what’s missing
We have been building a process piece by pice so far.

Now comes the fun. Now we can begin to make some practical use of what we have been building together.

Once a client has found what they were looking for, the next step is to connect that previously missing resource with the problem situation so it can be resolved or even dissolved.

Sometimes this connection and resolution happens spontaneously when the client makes their own connection; sometimes we can assist by offering the idea that this can happen; other times we can ask the client about how they might translate this experience so the resource they have found in their likes into the problem situation.

Of course, sometimes the connection won’t happen, or not just yet, but when it does, the transformation is something to see – relief, amazement, tears, laughter – most commonly there is relief. And it is a real joy for us to be part of this – so rewarding.

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Then … invite them to look around for what they have been searching for!

Then play with the possible ways that they may be able to make the connection with their problem.

early learning
We have explored connecting a client with their likes as a way of establishing a resourceful experience so that we can explore hypnotically what is missing in their problem are so this can be resolved and a solution can emerge.

Sometimes, just exploring their likes and what’s missing can be enough without hypnosis; sometimes it is in the hypnotic experience that the connection is made.; and other times, even when the client can see the possibility of connecting their resource to their problem, the doing of this can seem too much.

This is where early learning can be so helpful. We can remind a client that when they first learnt to [ride a bike / read a book / walk / etc. - whatever it is that they have told us that they like], it seemed impossible, and over time, in their own way, they learnt to do this, and now it’s not only not difficult, but it’s enjoyable!

This transforms the change from a massive paralysing leap of faith into a process – one which can take time. The relief can be palpable.

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Exercise. When you are working with a hypnosis client, family member, friend or colleague speak about their process of learning to do what they now like, and remind them that they have learnt this so thoroughly.

stories
Stories are one further way of connecting clients with their resources and the possibility of healing. They are a part of our humanness since antiquity and are an early experience of learning for many children from bed time stories or TV series.

Stories are going to be most useful when they relate to each particular client, and contribute to their individual dilemma. When we have the question “What’s missing for this client, that if they were to be connected with it, they would be OK?”, this can give a useful guide to finding relevant stories.

Erickson would frequently talk about a client, not unlike yourself, who [had a similar problem] and was able to learn / discover / realise …. and [fid their solution]. This can be such a delightful experience as a client feels less of a freak since there was at least one other person in their situation, and, that person was OK …. so maybe I can also!

We can also offer other stories that have no connection with therapy – stories from life, TV, films, mythology … there is no shortage … and again, being guided by the question of what’s missing will keep us alert to telling stories that are going to be useful for this client.

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Exercise. When you are working with a hypnosis client, family member, friend or colleague explore what’s missing for them, then offer a clinical story “I had a client not unlike yourself … where the solution was found” and then another story from life where this same resource was found.

what’s different?
When we ask this question, we have an opportunity to discover where the client is, what’s happening for them, what’s useful for them instead of assuming, guessing and hoping.

When we ask this question, there is already a presupposition that something is different, and when we discover just what that is, we can adjust our conversation and avoid unnecessary time and suffering.

If a client says that they are connecting with the experience of what was missing for them – whether comfort, safety, etc., we can explore ways that they could have more of this.

Sometime a client will say “Nothing” and although we don’t want to hear this, if nothing is different, the sooner we discover this, the better for everyone.

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Exercise:
Ask a client, or someone you can practice with about what’s different for them at the end of a hypnosis experience.

thank you
Thanking a client at the end of a session adds value and connection to the content of what happened. It also validates and legitimises the client.

Sometimes a client will respond by thanking us, further adding value and legitimacy to the conversation.

Such a small comment, but this can lead to such a delightful addition.

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Exercise:
Thank a client at the end of a session.

a session format
We have been exploring components of a hypnotic session, and now I want to offer a format that can be a useful starting place to practice all of the components, so we can become familiar with the.

This format is offered as a starting place, and not as some fixed protocol. The sooner you put it aside, the more likely it will be that the client’s need will be more important than getting the structure of the session right.

So, here’s the proposed format for you to practice, and then vary fro.

What do you like? What do you like about that?
What’s the problem that you want to address? How is that problematic for you?
What’s missing?
Let’s go into hypnosis …
could you go to your likes? Then begin to focus, become absorbed.
we can comment on physiological changes in breathing, stillness, blinking etc.
early learning – when you first began to [likes] … then you learnt
a clinical story where the missing resource was found
a life story where the missing resource was found
come out of hypnosis
What’s different?
Thank you.

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Exercise. Have a session with a client, or someone you can practice with following this format.

hypnotic experiences
Just as Erickson demystified hypnosis by thinking of it as an extension of the common everyday trance, we can also think of hypnotic experiences as extensions of common everyday experiences. We can recall past event or look forward to future ones; time flies when we’re having fun; kids don’t hear us call them to dinner when they are watching their favorite TV show; etc.

Also some people report spontaneously distortions in their perception of connectedness, their orientation in time, or space, emotions and sensations during a hypnotic experience.

From this perspective, we can avoid the weird sounding jargon of traditional hypnosis like dissociation, time distortion, amnesia, anaesthesia … and instead, encourage any flexibility which can be beneficial to any individual’s experience.

Hypnotic experiences can then be one more way of disconnecting someone with some unhelpful distortion and connect them with a missing and preferred experience.

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Exercise. Over the next few days, notice how you or others can be very connected, or disconnected; when you find yourself reminiscing over a past holiday or pleasant event or anticipating some future event; how time can go slowly or quickly; how you can be very aware or unaware of certain sensations; how somethings really bother you, while at other times not at all; how you can forget – a name or event, or unexpectedly recall something or someone.

connecting and disconnecting
Building on the idea that in our everyday living, we are always connecting with some aspects of our experience and disconnecting from others. As we connect with something in the foreground of our awareness, everything else becomes background. If we then connect with some other aspect, that now becomes foreground, and what was foreground becomes background.

If you focus your awareness on one of the words you are reading, the rest of the page is more blurred. If you shift your attention to an external sound, then the whole page becomes less distinct.

This becomes relevant in our clinical work in many ways. When we experience pain, pain is what we are aware of. If we can become more connected in our experience to listening to music, noticing some pleasant sensations, recalling a pleasant holiday … we become less connected, less aware, less overwhelmed by the pain.

We can apply this principle to many situations best by exploring the connections that are unhelpful that we can assist a client to be disconnected from, and which preferred experiences that this client is disconnected from might they benefit from being more connected with.

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Exercise. Explore with some of your clients what unhelpful connections are part of their problem, and what preferred connections could be enhanced.

time travel – past
We can look at a photo in an album, and find ourselves being transported back to when that photo was taken, and the more we focus on that experience, the more absorbed we become in the experience, the more real the memory becomes and often, the more details come to mind. Of course, not all of the details will be correct, and some may be blatantly false, but as we recall them, it is as if they are real, and are experienced as if they are happening now.

It can be such a relief for someone who has had a past trauma to be able to revisit that incident and rework their experience. We can help someone to take an imaginary helper back with them to support them, to encourage them, or even to change the experience. Of course what happened can’t be changed, but when we revisit the trauma, and change it, the experience of the trauma is changed, with great relief in most situations.

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Exercise. Explore with any client who wants help because of some past trauma how they might imagine a preferred outcome, and be interested to discover how this helps.

time travel – future
We can all look forward to a holiday or pleasant experience, and find a natural inclination, if we focus and become absorbed in that future event, to begin to have some of the components of it in the present time. We know how our mouth can water at the thought of favorite food; how a child become excited even before they open a birthday present; and in a problematic way, we know how dreading some unwanted experience has us suffer before it happens!

Some clients will tell us that they just can ever imagine that they will be free of their problem, letting us know that what is missing for them is the possibility of being over the problem. We can invite such a client to imagine, knowing they are imagining, that the desired outcome has already happened, and if we draw out more details, the experience feels real enough to provide a connection with what was previously held to be impossible

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Exercise. Explore with any client who wants help because of some dreaded future, or is stuck with the notion that what they want is impossible, how they might imagine a preferred outcome, and be interested to discover how this helps.

elastic time
Clocks measure time in a rigidly accurate way, but our human experience of time is very different.

The last hour before we finish work to go an a holiday seems to last weeks. We look up after what seems like an hour and only a few minutes have passed.

The last day of a wonderful holiday seems to last a mere few minutes. We look at the time after what seems like a few minutes, and hours have gone by!

Time is very elastic in out experience and if “time flies when you’re having fun”, then it can also fly when you’re suffering. If time seems to drag when bad things are happening, then we can also learn to have it drag when good things are happening – that way the bad experiences are felt to be over more quickly, and the preferred experiences can be prolonged.

The experience of expanding time to prepare for an exam, or to do an exam can be a massive relief to a student so they don’t become overwhelmed and paralysed. In labor, shortening the experience of the time of contractions and prolonging the experience of time between contractions can be a welcome learning.

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Exercise. Listen for clients spontaneous comments about their experience of time related to their problem, and see how you might be able to facilitate a different experience as part of their solution.

noticing and suffering
Erickson reminded us that we all have a lifetime of experience of not noticing sensations. We are experts at not noticing the sensations in our feet when they are comfortably resting on the floor. We can be naturally and effortlessly unaware of the sensation of a watch on our wrist, or glasses, or earrings – so many sensations which could be noticed but we have learnt to not notice them. People who live near busy roads or an airport don’t hear the traffic or the planes.

Starting from this experience, we can extend into not noticing painful sensations, irritating noises, unwanted hunger pangs …

There is also a qualitative aspect to our experiences. Do we like it? Are we accepting it? Does it frighten us? This emotional component, associated with what the experience means to us can generate suffering or acceptance which is not always related to the intensity of the sensations.

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Exercise. If a client is trouble by pain, what can you do to assist them to notice some comfort or pleasant experience, and if they are suffering, what can you do to help them to accept the situation rather than suffer from it?

forgetting and remembering
We have all had the experience of forgetting someone’s name, where we parked the car, what we came to the supermarket for … and we have all had the experience of having a name, a car park, the reason we are shopping just arrive without warning into our awareness. Forgetting and remembering are part of our everyday life.

These everyday happenings can be extended into hypnotic experiences when some unwanted memory or behaviour is best forgotten.

Some clients will explicitly say that they would like to be able to forget what happened that continues to haunt them. In such situations, forgetting may be what’s missing, and so becomes the focus of our working together.

Other clients will let us know that what’s missing for them is remembering, so remembering then becomes the direction to explore.

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Exercise. Listen for concerns about forgetting or remembering with your clients, and see how you can incorporate these into your hypnosis with them.

clinical issues – an introduction
One of my favorite mantras is that we are never dealing with a clinical issue, a condition, a diagnosis. We are never treating anxiety, depression, stress, a phobia, pain, a relationship difficulty. We are always in conversation with a person or people, looking with them, for what may be missing for them, that they have become disconnected from, forgotten, or overlooked.

This relieves us from the need to classify and diagnose, and opens the possibility of a genuine and human interaction which can be respectful, and generate possibilities.

This also relieves a client from the constriction of a diagnosis with its associated stigma and negation of their potential to grow and learn.

And … over the following weeks, we will explore some ideas which can be useful when someone brings their “anxiety”, “depression”, etc …

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This relieves us from the need to classify and diagnose, and opens the possibility of a genuine and human interaction which can be respectful, and generate possibilities.

This also relieves a client from the constriction of a diagnosis with its associated stigma and negation of their potential to grow and learn.

And … over the following weeks, we will explore some ideas which can be useful when someone brings their “anxiety”, “depression”, etc …

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moods – stress, anxiety, depression
When someone asks for help with their stress, anxiety or depression, rather than trying to treat them, or their “condition”, it can be so much more respectful and efficacious to explore with each individual what is missing for them, that if they could find it, experience it, or have access to it, would resolve their dilemma.

For someone talking about stress, it may be worrying less, or feeling more confident, or saying no, or having some personal time … such a wide variation.

If someone is anxious, they may be looking for security, comfort, safety, trusting, risking, or even daring!

Some people who are “depressed” are looking for hope, a future, a way of getting over a trauma or loss.

There is such a vast variety of experiences that can fall under these categories, and when we focus on the individual experiences, we can avoid the psychobabble of comorbidity which haunts psychological jargon. Instead, we can focus on individual experiences and learnings.

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Exercise. When a client says they are stressed, anxious or depressed, explore with them what might be missing, and then explore with them how they might reconnect with this missing resource and experience.

For someone talking about stress, it may be worrying less, or feeling more confident, or saying no, or having some personal time … such a wide variation.

If someone is anxious, they may be looking for security, comfort, safety, trusting, risking, or even daring!

Some people who are “depressed” are looking for hope, a future, a way of getting over a trauma or loss.

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habits – eating, smoking, sleeping
When someone asks for help with a habit, rather than trying to treat them, or their “habit”, it can be so much more respectful and efficacious to explore with each individual what is missing for them, that if they could find it, experience it, or have access to it, would resolve their dilemma.

For someone talking about an eating problem, we can explore what eating does for them, what might be missing for them that eating provides. My friend David Calof in Seattle sometimes asks such a person “What in your life are you waiting [weighting] for?” and the answer can be so helpful as a direction for therapy. When someone tells me they have a weight problem, I like to ask with a straight face “Do you want to lose weight or gain weight?”. What we now label as obese was probably considered to be underweight 100 years ago. Fashions change, and rather then force someone to comply with the latest fad, we can find out their concern, and assist them with that.

Cigarettes used to be prescribed by doctors, and now condemned by them. They have gone out of fashion. When we ask what’s missing for someone who wants to stop smoking, or in another form, what does smoking do for you, we can then discover with them what they can reconnect with and learn. For some it may be a social comforter, or “something that is just for me”, or relaxation, or weight control, something to do with the hands … so many different experiences, so it make sense to explore with each individual what might help them, rather than impose some external restriction.

Some people with sleeping problems are concerned about going to sleep, other with staying asleep, or getting back to sleep, or feeling rested after sleeping. Again, by clarifying individual experiences, we can better assist someone to have a preferred outcome – one that fits them as the unique individual that they are.

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Exercise. When a client wants help with a habit, explore with them what might be missing so that they can be satisfied, and then follow that lead in your therapy with them.

obsessions and compulsions
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, again, rather than treating obsessions and compulsions as conditions to be managed, if we can explore each individual experience, we can be more effective in our work.

There can be issues of self-trust, guilt, shame, like Lady MacBeth and her agony about washing her hands, or sometimes the thought pattern or behaviour can be habitual – there may have been something that triggered the beginning of the problem, and then it has become an empty process that continues with a life of its own and can readily respond to the idea of learning, letting go or forgetting.

I have observed that it can be useful to ask a client if they have ever done something that they continue to feel ashamed of, that they felt was really bad, and have kept secret – in other words something shameful, but I want to emphasise that this can be useful sometimes, so I’m offering it as an idea, not a theory.

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Exercise. When a client wants help with an obsession or a compulsion, explore with them what might be missing so that they can be satisfied, and then follow that lead in your therapy with them.

pain and suffering
Pain is a part of living and can’t be avoided, but too few people appreciate how we can influence our experience of pain – the sensations themselves or the amount of associated suffering.

We have all had many experiences of not noticing some discomfort until later, perhaps being surprised by this. Also there are some sensations that are more bothersome than other. Because we associate our being with our head, head pain tends to me more severe than foot pain.

Erickson reminded us that over a lifetime, we have learnt to not notice many sensations that are potentially noticeable – feeling of shoes on out feet, glasses, wrist watch, etc., and from this experience invited an extension into learning to not notice other stronger sensations.

In a similar way people who live on busy roads acclimatise to the traffic sounds, long distance runners learn to get past their pain or not even give it a lot of attention.

It can make all the difference to discover if it is the painful sensations themselves that are the problem, of the response of suffering.

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Exercise. When a client wants help with their pain, explore with them whether it is the pain or their suffering that is more important to them, and then explore how something can help this.

After trauma

We have all experienced traumas in out living, and mostly, we find a way of dealing with these by letting time pass, by forgetting, forgiving, accepting … and … sometimes some part of a trauma persists and causes us problems.

Rather than trying to deal with trauma in general, I have found it so much more helpful to ask each individual client about what particular aspect of their trauma is still troubling them.

Their answer – flashbacks, limitations of their activities, somatic symptoms, disturbed sleep, unwanted emotions such as insecurity or resignation – provides a clue to what’s missing for each individual, and so gives us a direction to explore with them so they can reconnect with whatever was missing for them, resolve the impasse, and heal.

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Exercise. When a client wants help with their trauma, explore with them what is still persisting, what is missing for them, and then explore what can help.

relationships

We humans are relating beings. Our relationships are fundamental to our health and wellbeing, and trouble with our relationships can be expected to extend out into any or all aspects of our living.

If we ask each individual couple about what is missing for them as a couple [not as individuals] then is can be obvious where the therapy will go to be useful. Asking about them as a couple bypasses their individual problems, which constitute the problems in their relationship, and allows for a focus on them as a couple so resolution can flow easily.

If couples are arguing, the shared experience of going into hypnosis can be a delightful reminder of how they can be together peacefully and pleasurably. In this shared experience, we can respectfully explore with them, as a couple, what action, emotion, attitude may have been missing, so that they can recall, remember, reconnect with this together and resolve their difficulties.

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Exercise. When a client wants help with their relationship, explore with them either individually or as a couple what is missing for them, and then explore what can help.

summary

As we’ve been in this shared experience, there have been a number of opportunities to explore and expand out observations, approaches, and effectiveness.

I could summarise in this way:-
Hypnosis is an extension of the everyday trance. It is familiar, useful, and individually experienced.
We can invite anyone into hypnosis by allowing them to focus and become absorbed.
This focus can then be directed to areas of their life that they like, so they can reconnect with any resource that has been missing, and so resolve their dilemma, and heal.
Hypnotic experiences are also extensions of everyday experiences.
We are never treating conditions or syndromes – we are always in conversation with people.
By exploring with each unique individual what is missing for them, and assisting them to reconnect with it, we can avoid the trap of pathologising and labeling.

Thank you for being in this experience with me, and please feel free to pass this on to anyone who might be interested.

If you are interested to explore this further, you could look at some options at learninghypnosis.net.

Rob