The Solution Focused Hypnotherapy process does not necessarily give tasks between sessions. Although, we do use elements of CBT, which does set tasks, the difference would be, in CBT they check to see if tasks have been completed, in SFH we don’t... we rely on the client telling us as something that may have been good, or something that has helped since the last session. We do not ask, as we do not want the client to feel he or she has failed in any way.

We do encourage actions between sessions, one of those is to listen to our guided relaxation MP3 as a means of self-hypnosis and to find moments of hypnotic trance between sessions and to aid the therapy process. This gets our clients used to our voices, which in turn helps them to enter trance more easily when they come for a session. It trains their mind to accept suggestion through repetition and makes the most of the improved sleep that it will encourage, therefore hopefully improving REM (rapid eye movement sleep)

Part of our Initial consultation and the workings of the mind presentation explains the physiology of the brain and how we keep a constant flow of beneficial neurotransmitters, serotonin, dopamine and endorphins flowing through our bodies. We use a caveman metaphor to explain the rewards our ancestors received for Positive Actions, Positive interactions and Positive thinking We rely on a good explanation of the physiology of the brain, the MP3 and the work we have done with the client on a subconscious level, to encourage self help and we hope, as the client has come to see us for help, that they will attempt to make small changes in these areas, to aid their journey towards their goals.

We can of course, jump on a suggestion from the client of something that they will do and ask them if indeed they will try it or do it, if we believe it will have a potential positive outcome. Asking them if they will try it and what they think will be better if they did? But again, we would hope that the self-set task was completed, but we would wait to be told if they have.

The swish technique is something we can train our clients to use between sessions, if they feel this would be helpful, something very easy that they can do at anytime during the day when they have a few moments. Once this is taught, the client has it for a lifetime and can use it in many different situations.

The Solution Focused Hypnotherapy model does not necessarily assign tasks between sessions, the clients may suggest that they will do something in between sessions based on something we may have said, for instance we may suggest that some of our clients keep a record of things that they found positive each day or record things that they are thankful for. If they choose to do this, we would not ask them of their progress as if they have failed to complete it, it may put them in a negative frame of mind.

We do though, suggest that they listen to our MP3 recording each evening before they go to sleep, as this will assist the work that we are doing together, this is mentioned in the initial consultation and revisited when we recap on the workings of the mind at the next session. If we are to encourage any task or homework, the recording is the one, as it keeps up the therapeutic benefits of using the left prefrontal cortex and emulates REM sleep, which helps anxiety levels and aids problem solving.

As the structure of our sessions contains scaling and the miracle question, we rely on the client to subconsciously work towards their goals between sessions, based on the small steps that they stated could be done to move themselves up the scales.

The Swish technique is one we can teach and encourage the client to use, I have utilised this with sports performance coaching where clients have a high level of anxiety prior to making a move, for instance weightlifting, where the pre lift is the moment of anxiety and achieving the lift is the moment of success.

Positive thinking, Positive Interactions and Positive activity can be encouraged, if we have described the benefits correctly during the workings of the brain presentation, we would hope subconsciously the client will be working towards this.

Whilst saying goodbye, we can of course ask the client to “keep up the good work” a task in itself!! 

Termination of trance is very simple, there is no need to count the client out of trance, asking them to open their eyes is enough to bring them to full wakefulness. But if we do this simple method, we miss a great opportunity to suggest positive things, as the client is still very much open to suggestion at this stage.

Giving positive suggestions while exiting trance is a powerful tool. It could be the very last, or only suggestion that they remember during their session. Clients should always leave in a positive frame of mind, feeling great and very relaxed, knowing that they feel different and refreshed and that they enjoyed the experience.

It may be appropriate to suggest things relevant to their goals or how they will feel when they are further up the “scale” of if used during a smoking cessation session, how much more the smell of cigarettes puts them off ever wanting one again! Short, Sharp, focussed suggestions to help them on their journey.

There are many ways to exit, I like to personalise the exit specific to the clients’ goals, just as little nudges in the right direction. We mustn’t lose sight that the client is very much open to suggestion post trance and being positive and complimentary of how well they did during the session is valuable to boost positivity further and encourage the client to “keep up the good work” between sessions.

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A Hypnotic deepener takes someone from being in a trance to being in an even deeper trance. It is generally believed that the deeper the trance the more effective the therapy, but this may not be the case as a lighter trance can give more flexibility during the session.

I mainly use progressive relaxation inductions, which allow a gentle drift into trance. The subject matter of the script though, I base on what information that I can get from the client at the initial consultation.

I find that for people who like holidays, tropical island and beach style scripts work well as they can imagine a beach that they know or enjoy. Walkers or ramblers may like to picture green hills and meandering paths, leading down a valley. Climbing down stairs is a classic, but I did have a lady who found her imagination didn’t picture a lovely stately home, but a grim old castle that made her feel cold and nervous, the next session we changed to stairs leading down to a beautiful beach, which she enjoyed so much more. Gardeners enjoy gardens, the closer you can make the induction to something the client can picture, the more effective the trance.

Avoiding any reference to the phobia of the client is wise, if the client is afraid of heights, stairs could be avoided, people with a fear of water or large sea birds, would not be as comfortable walking along a beach.

I use eye fixation for children as this encourages eye closure and then can lead to a progressive relaxation without them opening their eyes.

Common sense and listening to the client at the IC will help in selecting the best induction, to allow our clients to access their subconscious minds.

A Hypnotic induction is used to induce a state of trance in a client. There are many methods to do this.

In the main, for Solution focused Hypnotherapy we only need a light relaxing trance to help us with our work, so a relaxing progressive relaxation induction can be used for most people. A walk down some stairs in an old stately home to a room or maybe a walk down from a green hill to a beach, just listening to the story and the client imagining that they are the one walking is enough for them to drift off into a lovely place.

Other methods, but not an exhaustive list, are

Pattern Interruption, where a handshake is adapted by the therapist to confuse the client into trance.

Metaphorical Inductions, where we tell a story or a fairy tale, with hidden suggestions inside.

Confusion inductions, which use a play on language to confuse the mind into trance.

Arm levitation, where clients are encouraged to notice different feeling in their arms

Eye fixation, where a client stares at something until their eyes are so heavy, they have to close.

Fractionalisation is where you get the client to come in and out of trance to gradually go deeper.

Any change in a client’s emotion can be used to encourage trance, if they laugh or cry or a loud noise makes them jump, a skilled Hypnotherapist can use these emotion changes to induce a trance like state.

Each client is individual and not everything works on everyone and it may take a little practice to find the most appropriate method.

Asking a client “what would you like to achieve from today’s session” for me is so important. We already know why the client has come to see us as we have taken all the information we need at the Initial Consultation. We may be working successfully in reducing the client’s anxiety levels, which allows them to want to tackle other areas too. Sometimes, the initial complaint, was not the thing causing the anxiety and we should be mindful of this. Working at one step behind the client and watching their lead, we can see where they are going and guide them along their way.

I recently had a client come to see me for assistance in sticking to her weight loss plan, she was expecting, conversations of portion sizes and mentioned “hypnotic Gastric Bands” I of course talked about what she thought the benefits were to her if these were to be successful and she said she would feel she could go back to doing exercise as she would have more energy and feel better about herself. I then carried out workings of the mind presentation and focused heavily on the 3P`s, Positive interaction, Positive thoughts and Positive Action, strangely enough, the client had a lightbulb moment and said “maybe I should go swimming as I used to really enjoy that !! oh and I should walk more really!!” the subsequent sessions didn’t mention weight loss, they focussed on seeing how she could find ways of walking further and swimming faster. The lady had lost 12lbs in the first month of seeing me, she was happier, felt good about her changing body shape and didn’t worry so much about what others though she looked like. 

A little girl with a phobia of dogs is currently coming to see me, we are making terrific progress and we have got to the stage where she is happy to be in the vicinity of dogs and even stoke them if they are on leads. At one session, when we were close to the end, I asked “is there anything else that you would like to talk about today that we may have missed? “She then explained she had a residential trip at school and was so afraid of going rock climbing. We then spent an additional 25 minutes learning how we could use the “swish” technique to help her overcome the first few feet of the climbing walls. At the next session, her “what’s been good about your week?” was that she climbed and abseiled down the rock face!!

We need to ask, listen and react to what we are being told and hearing, this way we can see the best way forward.

In the main, anxiety reduction is the main focus of a Solution focused Hypnotherapist, if the clients “stress bucket” has capacity inside it, the client is able to deal with day to day life a lot easier and work from their intellectual mind, rather than the much quicker and negative Primitive mind. The client leads us and we follow asking questions and focusing in on solutions to what may be causing the anxiety. For this we use Scaling and the Miracle question to guide conversations on how we could make some small changes in the client’s life that will move them up the Happiness or Confidence scales.

There may be times when, in addition to the above, we use additional techniques. NLP methods such as the Rewind technique are very successful in assisting with PTSD and Phobia. Clients are relaxed and taken to an imaginary place with a TV or a Cinema where they can watch themselves, watching old movies in black and white of the trauma or phobia that they have experienced.  Watching them forwards and in reverse until the emotional spike is reduced or has gone. Them we can “reframe” the situation to a more positive outcome.

Another technique is the “swish” technique. This could be used for a variety of complaints. For weight loss, we get the client to picture themselves at how they look now and replace that with their preferred image of themselves and teach them to “swish” the images back and forth in their minds to allow the brain to train itself for positive outcomes. Also in sports, we could have a picture of the moment of anxiety, for instance before lifting a weight and the moment of success, when the weight is safely been lifted. 

We use inductions to relax the clients into Trance and get them deeper into relaxation by utilising deepener scripts. When they are comfortably in trance, we tell stories or metaphors to allow their brains to think and process to solve the riddles contained within them. Suggestions, whether indirect or direct can be used in trance to solidify the conversations that we had with the client during our session.

Each client is individual and we should always use what we feel is the best course of action to help with their issues. Reducing anxiety, I feel, is the priority initially, as with a low anxiety level, other techniques are far more effective.