Help Client Re-Engage with the World with the Overcome Social Withdrawal Script

Social withdrawal is characterized by a lack of engagement with family and friends, and is a common sign of depression. It's an increasingly common phenomenon in the modern age, as the internet offers online shopping, endless entertainment and a false sense of social connection.

The Overcome Social Withdrawal Hypnosis Script from The Script Collection was put together to help clients re-engage with society by becoming more confident and staying calm when considering social options.

During the pre-talk, the behavioral pattern of social withdrawal is discussed and given context, with reference to the Japanese "Hikikomori" (literally "pulling inward") - a name given to the more than 1 million people who have withdrawn from society.

Possible reasons for social withdrawal are listed, including past stress, fear of judgment from others, feelings of failure or shame, and the need to feel safe. The notion that the client may wish to change, but feel unable to do so, is established and sympathized with.

The client is assured that hypnosis can help them relate in a new way to the underlying feelings that cause social withdrawal. They will find ways to slowly progress and move on, to forgive themselves, and begin "a fresh new chapter" of their life that includes feeling calmer and more confident about making gradual progress towards re-engagement with society.

A brief induction guides the client into a trance state through flowing language and a countdown. As the client sinks deeply into complete relaxation, they focus on being present and are reassured that it's okay to "find your own way."

The trancework opens with an acknowledgement of the client's urge to retreat. In their relaxed state, the client is guided to see that urge as a need to move away from "the judgment and expectations from the past" and towards something better, something they've yet to discover.

The script explores the findings of Joseph Campbell, a professor and mythologist who realized that many great stories begin with a hero stuck in a place with rigid expectations of conformity, such as a small village, who feels that the prescribed path isn't right for them. Maybe the hero instantly sees a better way forward, but if not, they may end up having to pull away from society while they find their own path "into new lands, lush and green."

Now the client learns that hypnotist Dr. Milton Erickson theorized that all his patients had a "process going on beneath" the surface of their problems. He believed each patient must move through unique stages in their own development. The client is urged to recognize that the stage they are going through now is part of their own inner path on the way to discovering who they really are.

Now, the client is asked to consider a pair of shoes that they wore when they were a child. Today, the same shoes that were once comfortable and useful would be confining and painful if they were to try to wear them. The client is urged to see social withdrawal in the same way. They are guided to imagine a time in the future, when they can look back at their isolation as a phase they have outgrown as they "rebel against that restrictive lifestyle" and forge a new path.

The theme of the hero's journey is revisited. In hero stories, there is always a low point where the hero encounters darkness and despair. Here a clear parallel is drawn to the client's situation as a particular scenario is described whereby a villain keeps the hero locked in a house, drugged and unable to remember how long they've been there. Yet one day, the hero rebels. They suddenly see their situation with "a tremendous clarity" and escape the torture.

Here the script sympathizes with the potential difficulty in achieving this escape, as the client is led to consider how astronauts return from space physically weakened by the low gravity. But they get gradually stronger, and eventually return to a normal life - the implication being, of course, that the client, too, should expect to reintegrate with society slowly.

Through embedded commands, the client gets a sense of doing little things differently - experiencing "sunlight or a conversation" for just a few minutes every now and then.

The client is reminded that being human means failing sometimes, and that people can lose jobs, lose respect, go to jail, fail exams. However, failure and redemption is part of being human. The chance to "begin again" and "do things differently" is part of a life well lived.

Now, the client is led to picture themselves in the future, looking healthy and fulfilled. They are encouraged to flesh out this picture and allow their inner mind to "say yes" to it.

The client is guided to merge into this future self, to feel liberated from their "phase" of withdrawal and free to follow their own path. They look back at the journey they took, which started with small steps when they were weak like the astronaut and ended in a fulfilled life.

Add the Overcome Social Withdrawal Hypnosis Script to your script library today.

Overcome Social Withdrawal is also available as an MP3 download.