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ARTFUL HYPNOTIC LANGUAGE (AHL #1:  INTRODUCTION)

Hypnosis is an art of interaction to suggest and influence behavior.
Irrespective of your definition of what hypnosis _is_, most of us would
likely agree that artful use of language on the part of hypnotist is part
of the pattern of success for hypnosis.

When two people engage in face-to-face dialog, there is a wealth of
information going back and forth.  Before the hypnotist en-trances a
subject (except perhaps for stage demonstrations, which I will ignore
here), there is usually some dialog between the two to establish the
intentions and desired outcomes of the hypnotic experience for the subject.
The more carefully we prepare the ground for that work, the more likely the
work is to be effective.  In fact, in helping the subject clarify their
goals and objectives, and establishing how _they_ would know they've
achieved those goals and objectives, we often accomplish a substantial
amount of the work of hypnosis.  This is the "waking state" hypnotic
process, where the subject is focused on the issue they want to resolve, or
goal they want to achieve, without entering into formal trance.  In many
cases, this is actually sufficient, and the formal trance isn't required.

However, where a formal hypnotic trance is necessary to achieve the
objective, the information gleaned from the subject is valuable to the
trance induction process, and to helping the subject move toward the goal
they've set for themselves.  For example, if the subject wants to be able
to exhibit some particular behavior (say, put their face and head
underwater without undue fear or anxiety), we may use the trance to achieve
that objective.  However, clear understanding of the subject's own goals is
imperative to the appropriate outcome.

	A subject might say, "I don't want to be scared of the water."  The
	artful communicator knows that goals and outcomes have to be stated
	in the positive to be achieved, and so might help the subject re-
	phrase the goal to, "I want to be able to immerse my own head
	underwater for up to thirty seconds with comfort and ease."

	In another situation, the subject might say, "I can't hold my head
	underwater."  The artful communicator might effectively say, "Yet."
	That can transform a statement of _necessity_ into a statement of
	_possibility_ in the subject's mind, moving them in the direction
	of the change they want for themselves.

In practice, language is not all we do:  In my own experience, hypnosis is
about 25% language, and 75% non-verbal interaction (it might be 20/80, or
50/50, but my experience suggests that language is certainly not _all_ of
it).  If we are not noticing, in real-time, what is going on with the
subject in response to our trance-inducing words, then we are not
hypnotists, but automatons.

	Systems can be classified as "open-loop" and "closed-loop."  In an
	open-loop system, a source of information produces variations to be
	followed by some object, in accordance with some pattern; a
	camshaft is an example of an open-loop system:  the eccentric lobes
	of the cam can be easily translated into variations in linear
	motion, according to a strictly prescribed pattern.  In a closed-
	loop system, the source of information produces variations, and the
	object of that process provides _feedback_ that can be used by the
	source to provide more effective changes.  A thermostat provides
	stimulus to the heating system to produce heat, until the room is
	warm enough for the thermostat to provide a "stop" stimulus to the
	heating system.

	Effective hypnosis is, necessarily, a closed-loop system.  If the
	hypnotist cannot observe the subject of that exercise, then
	the hypnotist is limited to producing results that are _hoped_ to
	work, but with no assurances that they work at all.  It is for this
	reason that most recordings of hypnotic inductions are not
	successful for large numbers of people:  Some people with naturally
	fit into the patterns adopted in the recording, but many wont.

But, whether the hypnosis is attempted in "open-loop" or performed in
"closed-loop," the artful use of language can still influence the
probability of success.  Experienced hypnotists can produce hypnotic states
without language.  For example, students of Moshe Feldenkrais' work, and
other body workers, who produce kinesthetic stimuli to the body-in a
"closed-loop" environment-can produce profound states of hypnosis with nary
a word being spoken.  In a well-documented case, Milton Erickson induced
hypnotic trance in a subject in Mexico City without speaking a word, in
just a few minutes (he spoke no Spanish, the nurse spoke no English).  For
us mere mortals, however, the artful use of language can materially enhance
our chances of success.

Learning anything, including these language patterns, can be performed in
three ways:

	ABSTRACT; you can learn from books, and research documents and
	other literature, and

	VICARIOUS; you can watch other people doing it, or

	EXPERIENTIAL; you can do the work yourself and learn from that
	first-hand by trusting your own five senses and your inner sense of
	understanding.

If you wanted to learn roller coasters, you could read the various coffee-
table books about them, or even study the literature on the dynamic
engineering that goes into roller coaster design.  I believe that a higher-
quality experience is to be had by going out to the local amusement park to
watch thrilled passengers as the embark, ride and disembark.  I further
believe that the highest quality experience of all in learning roller
coasters is to be had by strapping yourself in the front seat and going for
the ride; perhaps a bit riskier, but definitely a complete and compre-
hensive learning.  If you then want to go on to study _how_ roller coasters
are designed, you can always "crack the books."

Similarly, if you want to learn how to communicate (in hypnosis or in any
other context), *do the work*.  Where there are recognizable patterns,
notice them in others, and produce them in your own speech and writing.  If
there are exercises, try them; there is no "right" or "wrong" way to do
them, so long as you learn something.  *After* you've gotten the primary,
personal experience, then discuss your experience with others, and share
your mutually-vicarious experiences; you may learn even more than you knew
by noticing how other people have done things differently from you.
Finally, if you're still intrigued to dig deeper, there are rich bodies of
literature you can consult for the underpinnings.

But first trust your own five senses.

Some of the topics I plan could include:

	PATTERNS IN AMBIGUITY (Generalization, Deletion, Distortion)
	LEVELS IN COMMUNICATION (Metalevels)
	PRESUPPOSITIONS (Gathering unspoken information)
	USEFUL UNIVERSAL PRESUPPOSITIONS (Worthwhile assumptions)
	MEETING AND MATCHING LANGUAGE (Pacing and leading)
	EXPLICIT PATTERNS FOR INFORMATION GATHERING (Meta-model)
	SPECIFIC WORD PATTERNS FOR HYPNOTIC TRANCE ("Milton"-model)

In subsequent weeks...so long as you in the alt.hypnosis newsgroup invite
me to continue...I will post some of these things I've learned about
language.  These are the foundation "bricks" from which a complete house of
hypnosis can be constructed, when the walls and roof of non-verbal behavior
are added from some other source.  Your simple public follow-up in response
to each posting will suffice to inform me...and other readers of the
newsgroup...that this information is useful to you.  When the number of
affirmative responses to a post in this series falls to below ten (in the
one-week period following the initial posting), I will cease making new
posts in this series.  I encourage you to make public postings, instead of
e-mail to me privately, so others can learn from your questions and
observations.

These articles are the first, rough drafts of work I am doing in an
entirely different field.  I am writing these drafts for alt.hypnosis with
the hope that they will prove useful to you who read the newsgroup, and
that they will elicit feedback about how they could be made better.  My
current plan is to write a half-dozen of these articles for the newsgroup,
over the next several weeks.

My sources are my own experience with hypnosis, extending non-
professionally over the past 35 years to my teen years, my training in
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) since 1980, and my use of these patterns
and understandings over the all those years with (hopefully) improving
degrees of accomplishment and excellence.  There are many people in this
newsgroup who have as much or more experience than I, and I invite them to
provide all of us with feedback about how we can improve these
presentations and how we can learn even more.

This material is Copyright, 1992, 1993 by Carol Anne Ogdin, Santa Clara, CA
95051; all rights reserved.  Distributed through alt.hypnosis newsgroup of
Usenet (Internet), and paper copies may be made for personal use.  Any
distribution of this material must include this copyright and contact
notice.  The author may be reached as     friday@well.sf.ca.us
-- 
--Friday                                    "Knowledge is guesswork
   Carol Anne Ogdin, Principal Designer         disciplined by 
   Deep Woods Technology                        rational criticism." 
     friday@well.sf.ca.us                               --Karl Popper