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Stephen Brooks – The Art of Indirect Suggestion

Over the last few months, I’ve been listening to some audio recordings of a hypnosis training by Stephen Brooks, a British trainer with a long history of teaching hypnosis. The audio consists of eight sections, each about 90 minutes in length, making a total of 12 hours. There is a good article about Stephen on Wikipedia.
He teaches students the different types of hypnotic patterns they can use, including binds, double binds, reverse yes-sets, time binds and many more.
Stephen also offers a one-year online certification course that is available free of charge at:
http://www.british-hypnosis-research.com/
 

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COACH State Process

A couple of people were asking about the COACH state process. Here’s a link to a short article explaining it, and contrasting it with the unresourceful CRASH.
http://standinginspirit.com/state-management-coach-and-crash-states/
And here’s a file with a sample script for the COACH state:
COACH State Script

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Blog Reviews

Review: TED talk by Richard St. John

This is a wonderful short talk by RIchard St. John on how to achieve success. He interviewed and modelled hundreds of TED speakers, people who had achieved success in their lives. It’s only three minutes long and well worth watching. You may have heard it all before, but he puts it together in a very concise persuasive way. Below, I’ve taken his eight tips for achieving success and showed how they are all inherent in the NLP model of the world.

Have passion in what you do

In NLP, we talk about congruency and values. In the Value Elicitation exercise, we identify what is truly important to a person using questions such as “Is money more important to you than helping people or is helping people more important to you than money?” We then try to support congruency to make sure that the person is congruent in their values throughout their activities.

Work hard!

It’s pretty obvious, but success requires hard work, no matter what field of endeavor you are in. You need to practice your skills and develop your craft to a high level. NLP facilitates this dedication to a goal by allowing people to change their motivation strategies or design more effective work strategies that will achieve results most effectively.

Focus

Focus allows us to devote our energy to carrying out specific goals that we have chosen as being important. NLP offers goalsetting activities which promote focus such as Well-Formed Outcomes (SPECIFY process). It also offers powerful language techniques such as the Meta Model which allow us to define clearly what it is that we are looking for.

Persist

Related to working hard and having focus, the ability to persist is a powerful tool in achieving success. One useful tool in NLP is future-pacing, asking someone to consider the effect of a change at a future time. For example, questions like “when you imagine yourself achieving those results in one year, and continuing to persist in your practice, how does that feel now?”

Ideas

Ideas are generated by simply being aware of circumstances, paying close attention, and linking ideas from different domains. NLP helps us to be more aware by training our sensory acuity and helps us to link ideas from different domains through techniques such as metaphor development.

Good

Doing something good or useful is also a key to achieving success. Again, NLP achieves this using exercises like Value Elicitation or Core Transformation to identify the core values that are important to us. NLP also reminds us to check the ecology of the system, for example, “what effect will this change have on the people around you?”

Push

To be successful, you’ve got to push yourself. And NLP is all about pushing the boundaries of what you are currently able to do. One way of defining NLP is as the modelling of excellence. We push our current boundaries by studying the excellent performance of an expert, both consciously and unconsciously. There is no finish line in NLP or in success – we just keep pushing the boundaries to allow people to achieve their highest potential in a way that is congruent with their values – to achieve both success and a happy inner life.

Serve something beyond yourself

This corresponds to the NLP idea of mission. In the Logical Levels model, mission can be seen as the bridge between Identity and Spirit and is elicited by questions such as “What bigger community or system are you part of that your work and being are contributing to?”

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Session 1: June 21, 2011 (Tuesday)

Location

Session 1 will be held in Shinsakae
102 Sanno Mansion Dai 2 Shinsakae, Shinsakae 3-14-6, Naka-ku, Nagoya 466-8555
Tel: 050-3722-6838
Cell: 090-7612-5413
You can see the location in Google Maps and print it out.

Preparation for the Session

Please download and read at least Chapter 1 of Dylan Morgan’s free online book: Hypnosis for Beginners.
Also bring the following to the workshop.

  • A printout of Chapter 1 (or the whole book)
  • Something to write with
  • Something to write on
  • An open mind
  • Lots of curiosity

That’s about all that you will need to start exploring hypnosis, learning some great stuff, and having fun.

Session Details

To be announced

Tasks for the Next Session

We know that everyone is busy, so we’ll just ask that you do your best to carry out these tasks before the next session, keeping in mind the reason that you decided to learn hypnosis and how a few minutes fun with these tasks can really deepen your learning.

  • To be announced later

Next Session

  • To be announced later
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Intro to Nagoya Hypnosis Workshop

Hypnosis Practice Workshop

Facilitators: Brian Cullen & Brad Deacon
We’ve been thinking for a while of setting up a hypnosis workshop for people with a real interest in developing their hypnosis skills more fully.

What is hypnosis?

There are many different definitions for hypnosis. In our view, we see it as something that everyone does naturally all the time as we move from one state of mind to another. Richard Bandler talks about the trances that we live by: our morning trance, our work trance, our television-watching trance. Most of the time, we are entering these altered states without any awareness, and practicing hypnosis skills allows us to gain much more control over those states within ourselves and others.

Why practice hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a great tool for helping yourself and others to enter into more useful states in order to enjoy life and be more effective in many ways.

Professionally

If you are a teacher, for example, educational hypnosis will enable you to get your students into an appropriate state for learning – a state in which they are curious and motivated towards learning. In any other job, too, being able to use hypnosis more effectively will really help your communication and allow you to achieve your professional goals more effectively.

Personally

In your personal life, hypnosis can not just help your relationships, but also give you much more fun in every aspect of your life by allowing you to enter into the appropriate state for the activity that you are carrying out. How much more enjoyable does music become when you can completely immerse yourself in it, perhaps allowing the musical sounds to naturally bring up images and feelings in your body that enhance your enjoyment?

Helping Others

Practicing your hypnosis skills can help you to help the people around you that you care about. Many of the problems that people face in life can be solved when they realize their own resourcefulness, but these same problems prevent them from entering a resourceful state. Through hypnosis, you can help them to enter a more resourceful state when necessary and to access these resources.

What will we be doing in the hypnosis practice workshops?

The name says it all, really. We’ll be practicing hypnosis – and we’ll be doing it in a safe, confidential environment where you can develop your skills easily. The participants will act as practice subjects for each other. All people are different and pass between different states in different ways, so you will have the opportunity to practice different skills as you work with people in the workshop. Of course, we’ll also be having fun while we practice. If you’ve heard of Bandler and Grinder’s original workshops where they wanted to have fun learning about the possibilities of hypnosis, then you’ll know exactly the kind of spirit of fun experimentation that we want in the workshops.

How will we practice?

There are a large number of books/DVDs etc. available to learn hypnosis, and there are many different schools. One of the most straightforward and clearest books that we have found is Hypnosis for Beginners by Dylan Morgan. Apart from being very well written, it has the added bonus of being available as a free download from the author’s website:
http://www.hypno1.co.uk/BookHypnosisForBeginners.htm
We would suggest that all participants get a copy of this book and read at least the first few chapters before the workshops begin. It will give you a very clear idea of the simple exercises and exploratory approach that we want to promote in the workshops. Clearly, many of the participants are not beginners, but we have all come from different backgrounds and revisiting the basics in an open-minded and exploratory style will certainly be of benefit to all. It will help us all to practice tools of hypnosis that we may not even have been aware of yet.
We will prepare exercises based on this book. Initially, we’d like to work through those exercises and then later, we can open up the workshop to a wider range of ideas from participants and other sources.

Who will the participants be?

We envision a group of 6-10 people who have a serious interest in learning more about hypnosis and improving their skills through practice over an extended period of time. If you recognize yourself in this description, we would be very happy to have you join us. Also, if you know of like-minded people who are curious and willing to learn (even those who have no background in hypnosis), we welcome them as long as they respect the confidentiality and exploratory focus of the workshops.

When, where, how often?

Currently, we are thinking of holding the workshop once a month, probably on a Wednesday evening from 7-9pm. Weekends are busy for many people with family and other activities, so we have deliberately made it a weekday night. The location depends somewhat on the participants. We have several possible locations including Shinsakae (Brian’s house), Fukiage/Tsuruma (Nagoya Institute of Technology), and Yagoto (Nanzan University). Once we have a good idea of the participants, we will choose the most convenient location.

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Allergy-Free

Some time back, I posted an article about the NLP allergy relief process, and I am happy to say that it seems to have been successful for me this year. Apart from a couple of days when I was over-busy, I have been almost symptom-free this year with a noticeable lack of sneezing, blocked-nose, and sore throat. This is a good thing indeed, especially since the pollen count this year was far far higher than other years–ten times the level of last year’s pollen count according to some sources.
Perhaps, it is fairer to point out that I have made several changes that could have influenced the allergic reaction that I used to have.
1. NLP Allergy Relief Process
2. A less-stressed life style
3. A better diet, with less meat and dairy
4. Time: It’s was about seven or eight years when I first perceived an allergic response to pollen. I have heard that every cell in the body gets replaced over a seven-year cycle, so there is the possibility that I have simply grown out of it.
5. Netti Pot: For the last five months or so, I have using a netti pot (thanks for the tip, Maria!) for nasal irrigation. Do a search on YouTube if you’re not familiar with the netti pot. It takes a couple of days to get used to, but once you do, nasal irrigation feels great and it actually feels odd on those days that I can’t do it for some reason.
I’m sure there are other factors, too. After another year or so, I’ll sit down and write a fuller article based on my condition at that point and my use of the NLP allergy relief process with others.
If you suffer from allergies, this season allows me to tell you that you can change that. If you’d like to try the NLP allergy relief process, get in touch and we’ll set something up.

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Blog Hypnosis Reviews

Review: Hypnosis for Beginners

There are a large number of books/DVDs etc. available to learn hypnosis, and there are many different schools. Out of the many resources that I have used to gain a deeper understanding of hypnosis, one of the most straightforward and clearest books that I have found is Hypnosis for Beginners by Dylan Morgan. Apart from being very well written, it has the added bonus of being available as a free download from the author’s website:
http://www.hypno1.co.uk/BookHypnosisForBeginners.htm
The website is a huge treasure trove of material about hypnosis and the author comes across as a man of great integrity who wishes to share his knowledge freely with as many people as possible to achieve the greatest benefit. Having read this book and browsed several of the others on the website, I wish that I had the chance to meet Dylan Morgan, but it is sad to see that he passed away in March 2011. His website is still preserved in its entirety and I recommend it highly.
I found this book so useful that I am planning to use it as the core text for a hypnosis workshop that I am starting up with an NLP friend in Nagoya over the next few months. Like the book, the workshop is intended to consist of simple exercises and an exploratory approach to hypnosis. Even though many of the participants will not be beginners, all come from different backgrounds and revisiting the basics in an open-minded and exploratory style will certainly be of benefit to all.
I’ve shown the contents of the book below. It is quite short (147 pages) and so cannot cover many of the elements of other introductory books. For example, Morgan starts out by explicitly stating that the book is not a history of hypnosis and it is not a collection of scripts.
1. Simple Connections.
2. Switching Systems Off.
3. The Visual Imagination.
4. Directing and Controlling the Imagination.
5. Exploring Inductions.
6. Posthypnotic suggestions.
7. Focussing Attention.
8. Resistance and Rapport.
9. Self-hypnosis.
10. Bringing it all Together.
From Chapter 1, Morgan has the reader explore their own mind and gives exercises for exploring the concepts of hypnosis with a friend or a partner. He takes a systems view of hypnosis. In his descriptions, hypnosis is a natural phenomenon that involves connections between systems within the human body. For example, words in the verbal system can stimulate or visual system, or alternatively cause it to relax and become less active. Similarily, other sensory and body systems can be used to affect systems to make them become more or less active.
It is a pleasant change from many other beginner books which simply present inductions and scripts, often wrapped up in a certain amount of mysticism. Morgan’s book takes a very practical, exploratory approach, and I look forward to using it in our workshops over the coming months.
 

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Review: Skinny Bitch

While this isn’t an NLP book, it is a fine example of a book that uses very persuasive language to achieve its main point: think carefully about what you put into your body. In the acknowledgements, the authors thank Anthony Robins and Wayne Dyer, both proponents of NLP, and it is clear that they have used the language of NLP effectively to get their message across.
The book is aimed at women and takes a very light tone, as if a woman were talking to her girlfriends at a cafe or wine bar. It is sprinkled with lots of effective cursing. The authors are also very aware of the power of visual images in persuasion and use some very graphic ones indeed to tell the reader about the horrors of slaughterhouses. Similarly, they use powerful language to reframe meat as rotting carcasses.
I enjoyed the book very much and while I’m not planning to become a vegan (I’m already vegetarian for most of the week) or radically change my eating habits, they have certainly made me think about what I’m putting into my body and how the food industry and overseeing governmental bodies are set up to ensure the financial success of farmers, not the safety of consumers.

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Review: Full Facts Book of Cold Reading

 
I don’t generally watch much television. We don’t actually have a television in the house, but of course, pretty much anything is available online these days for viewing, and recently I began to watch episode after episode of a fun murder investigation drama called The Mentalist. Each episode begins with a murder and the main character, Patrick Jane, uses his powers of sensory acuity, hypnosis and cold reading to solve the crime. Jane used to work as a psychic, but now claims that there are is no such thing as a psychic.
I had never heard the term cold reading until I came across a few books on Amazon related to it. Wikipedia defines it as follows:

Cold reading is a series of techniques used by mentalists, illusionists, fortune tellers, psychics, and mediums to determine or express details about another person, often in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do.

One of the books, How to be a Mentalist, was the one that first caught my attention, but when I looked through the comments, there were some very negative reviews, along with some comments suggesting that the positive reviews were the result of a discount being offered by the author to people who agreed to write positive reviews. The negative reviews did have the positive result of recommending some alternative books, and Full Facts Book of Cold Reading does indeed warrant these recommendations. The author is Ian Rowland. His website is a good indication of his highly amusing, self-deprecating, and extremely honest writing. It says “Ian Rowland – Internationally known as Ian who from where?” There are so many ridiculous and self-important claims made on websites, especially ones trying to sell self-help products, that Rowland’s style is refreshing.
Rowland often poses as a psychic for television shows and uses his cold reading skills to make predictions about the lives and future lives of the volunteers. Afterwards, it is always revealed that he has no psychic power whatsoever. Rowland does not claim directly that there is no such thing as psychic power, but he certainly implies it extremely strongly with his in-depth explanations of how cold reading can be used to create the effect. This debunking of psychics, astrologers, tarot readers, and other spiritualists had me laughing out loud at many points during the book. The author can be very funny.
For me, the most interesting and useful part of the book is the analysis of the elements of a ‘psychic’ reading. I have given some examples below (summarized from the book) that will give you a taste of his ideas.

1. The Rainbow Ruse

The Rainbow Ruse is a statement which credits the client with both a personality trait and its opposite.

“You can be a very considerate person, very quick to provide for others, but there are times, if you are honest, when you recognise a selfish streak in yourself.”

2. Fine Flattery

Fine Flattery statements are designed to flatter the client in a subtle way likely to win agreement. Usually, the formula involves the client being compared to “people in general” or “most of those around you”, and being declared a slight but significant improvement over them.

“…I have your late sister with me now. She tells me she wants you to know that she always admired you, even if she didn’t always express it well. She tells me that you are… wait, it’s coming through… yes, I see, she says you are in many ways more shrewd, or perceptive, than people might think. She says she always thought of you as quite a wise person, not necessarily to do with book-learning and examinations. She’s telling me she means wise in the ways of the world, and in ways that can’t be said of everyone. She’s laughing a little now, because she says this is wisdom that you have sometimes had to learn the hard way! She says you are intelligent enough to see that wisdom comes in many forms.”

3. Sugar Lumps

Sugar Lump statements offer the client a pleasant emotional reward in return for believing in the junk on offer.

“Your heart is good, and you relate to people in a very warm and loving way. The tarot often relates more to feelings and intuition than to cold facts, and your own very strong intuitive sense could be one reason why the tarot seems to work especially well for you. The impressions I get are much stronger with you than with many of my clients.”

4. The Jacques Statement

This element consists of a character statement based on the different phases of life which we all pass through. Jacques Statements are derived from common rites of passage, widely-recognised life patterns, and typical problems which we all encounter on the road to mature adulthood.

“If you are honest about it, you often get to wondering what happened to all those dreams you had when you were younger; all those wonderful ambitions you held dear, and plans which once mattered to you. I suspect that deep down, there is a part of you that sometimes wants to just scrap everything, get out of the rut, and start over again – this time doing things your way.”

5. Barnum Statements

These are artfully generalised character statements which a majority of people, if asked, will consider to be a reasonably accurate description of themselves.

“You have a strong need for people to like and respect you.”
“You tend to feel you have a lot of unused capacity, and that people don’t always give you full credit for your abilities.”
“Some of your hopes and goals tend to be pretty unrealistic.”

6. The Fuzzy Fact

A Fuzzy Fact is an apparently factual statement which is formulated so that (a) it is quite likely to be accepted (b) it leaves plenty of scope to be developed into something more specific.
“I can see a connection with Europe, possibly Britain, or it could be the warmer, Mediterranean part?”
There are lots more in this fascinating book including:

  • The Stat Fact
  • The Trivia Fact
  • The Cultural Trend
  • The Childhood Memory
  • The Seasonal Touch
  • The extended veiled question
  • The jargon blitz
  • The vanishing negative

If you have an interest in cold reading, communication, or just want to have a fun and informative read, Full Facts Book of Cold Reading is a good choice. Have fun. You can purchase it from the author’s website at: www.ianrowland.com.
 

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NLP Trainings by Transformations

One of the finest NLP trainers that I know, Richard Bolstad, will be carrying out a series of trainings in Japan between July and September. I have trained with Richard on many occasions and can highly recommend his training methods, his demonstrations, and his personal congruence. I have learned a lot from Richard and if you can get to Kyoto or Tokyo this year, take the opportunity to learn NLP from one of the best trainers out there! Details are at the link below:
http://www.nlptrainingsjapan.jp/schedule-prices/index.html