Have you ever heard of Hypnoparenting?
It is basically a hypnosis that includes parents and their kids to solve the problem that happen between them. Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion. There are competing theories explaining hypnosis and related phenomena.
Altered state theories see hypnosis as an altered state of mind or trance, marked by a level of awareness different from the ordinary state of consciousness. In contrast, non-state theories see hypnosis as, variously, a type of placebo effect, a redefinition of an interaction with a therapist or form of imaginative role enactment.
During hypnosis, a person is said to have heightened focus and concentration. Hypnotized subjects are said to show an increased response to suggestions. Hypnosis usually begins with a hypnotic induction involving a series of preliminary instructions and suggestion. The use of hypnotism for therapeutic purposes is referred to as “hypnotherapy”, while its use as a form of entertainment for an audience is known as “stage hypnosis,” a form of mentalism.
Hypnoparenting having a lot of benefits for both parents and kids includes:
- Understand the power of your words and action
- Understand yourself, your own beliefs and habits, and learn ways to control them
- Understand that your role as a parent is to allow your children to live their lives
- Discover your child objectively
- Learn to focus on the useful
- Learn ways to reinforce positive suggestions
- Learn a simple technique of letting go
- Understand how your mind works
- Learn to appreciate how your child’s mind works
- Discover the power of “being ok”
There are a lot of technique on doing hypnoparenting, here is below some techniques on doing hypnoparenting:
- Relaxation technique
Why do therapists ask to “make yourself comfortable” and provide a cushy leather couch to lay down on? It’s more than a common courtesy. Relaxation is a common method used by therapists and a beginner hypnosis technique. If the client is relaxed, they may fall into trance and the mind is open to suggestion. They are more likely to talk to you and be open to indirect suggestions. Here are some common methods of relaxation: Make yourself comfortable, Lay down, Count down in your head, Controlled breathing, Relax & tense muscles, Speak in a soft tone.
- Handshake Technique
Milton Erickson – the father of hypnotherapy – is famous for using the handshake technique as a way to induce hypnotic trance. Handshakes are the most common form of greetings in our society. The handshake technique shocks the subconscious by disrupting this common social norm. Instead of shaking the hand normally, the hypnotist would interrupt the pattern that our mind has established by grabbing the wrist or pulling the subject forward and off balance. With the pattern interrupted, the subconscious mind is suddenly open to suggestion.
- Eye Cues
here are two spheres of the brain – the right manages the more “creative” and conscious side and the left the “practical” and subconscious. In any conversation we look for feedback from the listener to see how they react to our statements. Watch the subject’s eyes. Are they looking to the right, accessing the conscious or the left to the subconscious? Are they fixated on one object in the room? If they are accessing the subconscious, you can make a suggestion that they are not consciously aware of. Reading the eye movements of a listener is a common use case. But did you know that as the speaker, you can also perform a hypnotic induction on the listener with your eye movements? This new technique was developed and tested by Stephen Brooks.
- Visualization
Visualization can be used both to induce trance and to make suggestions. For example, ask your subject to recall a room they are very familiar with. Imagine every detail in that room: the floor, the shape of the windows, the painting on the wall, the smell, the light. Then, move onto a room they are less familiar with. As they struggle to recall the exact detail, they open the mind to suggestion. Advanced Tip: Use visualization to recall positive memories and associate them with a rewarding behaviour, or to change one’s perception of a negative image. Example: Positive images and experiences (wedding, kid, birthday, graduation), Discard bad images (maybe throw them in the trash).
- Arm “Levitation” Technique
With this classic Ericksonian technique, the client begins by closing their eyes. They are asked to notice the difference in feeling between their arms. The hypnotherapist makes suggestions as to the sensations in each arm. For example, they might say the arm feels heavy or light, hot or cold. The client enters a trance and may physically lift their arm or they make simply believe in their mind that they have lifted the arm. Either way, the induction was successful.
- Direct Suggestion
n conversational hypnosis, a direct suggestion is an explicit command to perform a certain action. Though powerful, it is sometimes viewed as unethical because as the authority (a doctor or hypnotist) you hold power over the client. The client does not control the decision to change behavior with this method. The Stanford Prison Experiment was an infamous example of using authority, obedience, and direct suggestions to manipulate subjects.
Here are some classic direct suggestions: “You will go to sleep” “You will stop avoiding your parents” “You will learn to accepting the past”
- Voice Tone
The tone of your voice is particularly useful when making suggestions. This can double up with other techniques (like relaxation). “You might wish to become relaxed” In the above example, the word “relaxed” is spoken softly and elongated. On the contrary, you can make a direct suggestion loudly. “You will STOP smoking!” Another perfect pair for voice tone is the confusion technique. The therapist could vary the tone of voice from whispering to shouting, speak with a different accent, or use a lisp, to confuse the subject.
- Reframing
Usually done as a metaphor, reframing allows you to change the perception of an experience in the client’s mind. For example, imagine you have a client that wants to lose weight. They stay inside and play video games all day. You could ask them to describe the process to “level up” their character in the video game – what they do, how long it takes, how strong the character is at the beginning. And then, “reframe” the process of losing weight in their mind by comparing it to the video game.
- Incrementalism
Making a tiny change is the stepping stone to a much large one. For example, if a client is trying to lose weight, daily cardio may be too big of a leap. Instead, you could suggest they start with a small increment: take the stairs for one floor and then hop in the elevator as they typically would. The next week, two flights of stairs. Eventually, they will have worked up to the larger goal and overall better behaviour. Another example: Go to the gym once a week for 5 minutes. The commitment is so small it’s impossible to fail. You will likely end up staying for more than 5 minutes, incrementing the duration and number of days over the course of a month.
- Reconnections
Memories fade over time. While that might be good for someone with a negative experience, positive experiences can also fade. Abilities, just like memories, can be forgotten as well. An agoraphobic may forget that there was once a time they had the ability to go outdoors. As a hypnotherapist you can help bring these positive memories and abilities back using rehearsal and visualization with the client.
Those are some examples of how the hypnotherapist do the hypnoparenting. The most important thing is not the therapy but you and your kid willingness to solve the problem and bringing back the warmth into the family.
Learn to understand what you need and learn to also listen to your kid needed, because sometimes what we need only time together to talk and listen to each other. May God bless you and your family, and remember home is not home without any love on it!
