Here are seven of the best self-hypnosis techniques I know.
They’re the best because they’re simple, they work, and they’re easy to apply.
I use them in my clinical practice, and I also explain them in detail (and explain how to apply them to a dozen common problems) in the bonus ebook that comes with my self-hypnosis course.
1. The Movie Theatre/Magic TV
This is a simple visualisation technique that uses an experience familiar to most of us – watching a movie or TV. You have a remote control and can fast forward, rewind, pause, etc. It’s a way of reasserting control over the experience that you’re visualising.
2. The Control Panel
This self-hypnosis technique is one of my favourites. You use an imaginary control panel (like the ones you get in a radio station or sound-booth) to adjust your mental and physical functioning to be closer to your ideal.
3. Anchoring
Anchoring is summoning up a powerful memory of being in a desirable mental state, and connecting that mental state to a trigger (usually a touch or a keyword). You can then bring back that state when you need it in future.
4. Modelling
You can model someone who you admire for having a quality that you want. This self-hypnosis technique involves watching them in your imagination and then taking on their qualities and attitudes for yourself.
5. Future Pacing
The brain doesn’t make a sharp distinction between imagination and memory (because memories are reconstructed by our imagination anyway). So if you vividly imagine yourself doing something in the future, it’s almost as if you remember having already (successfully) done it. You do need to practice the skills that will get you there, not just bask in the dream of being there, though, or you reduce your motivation – your mind thinks you’ve already succeeded so it doesn’t have to take action.
6. The Safe/Happy Place
I use this self-hypnosis technique with clients who are struggling with difficult emotions and need some time out. It’s also a safe way to do difficult personal work.
7. Rituals
Part of my training is in creating rituals for transition through crisis. I sometimes have clients who are familiar and comfortable with the idea of a personal ritual construct one under my guidance in the session. It saves on robes and candles (since it’s all done in your imagination), and because you’re in a very focused state of mind, it can be very powerful for making important changes in how you think, feel and behave.
To get the full instructions for these seven self-hypnosis techniques, a bonus eighth technique for learning and memory, and a handy chart and instructions for applying them to a dozen common life problems, pick up my self-hypnosis course AIM Your Mind. (That’s all in a bonus ebook to the main course, which teaches simple self-hypnosis in four short video lessons.)