It's much easier to hypnotize someone around something they already do than to teach them something entirely new. This is the 'utilization principle' and it allows you to harness existing feelings and experiences to create the hypnotic state. You can also seek out these patterns in a whole host of everyday experiences that you can use to 'bring to the fore' the resource, or emotional state, you need your client to experience.

For example, a client may be able to recall a situation where they successfully ignored a distraction in order to complete a task. It might be a small event, such as ignoring the doorbell for a few moments while putting some food in the oven, or tolerating minor discomfort - such as wanting to go to the toilet but hanging on in order to watch the final scene of a great movie. This skill may be useful in helping them 'Overcome Procrastination' for example.

See if you can come up with everyday experiences to elicit these responses: sounds fading into the distance, 'resistance (to cigarettes for example)' and 'hand numbness'. This harnessing of everyday patterns is a powerful and reassuring stepping-stone when creating the trancelike state. It also helps put clients at their ease by wrapping them in the familiar.

This article is one in an occasional series of hypnosis insights for Inspired Minds readers. Much of this knowledge can also be explored in 'Learn hypnosis in five days', our free audio hypnosis training course. Growth Zone members can also access the course online and you can read more about this and other benefits in Growth Zone news.

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