The Principles of Hypnosis - Ethics Cautions, and Opportunities - Part IV

Ethics Cautions, and Opportunities

Now that we've discussed the "how" of Hypnosis, let's discuss the realities and their ramifications.

We're talking about fucking around with what is in someone's subconscious. Changing the programming that was solidified between ages 8-14, and designed to be difficult to change. Isn't that bad? Shouldn't we leave that alone?

Physical Play is Okay...but Don't Change anyone

Obviously there is some stigma and fear associated with "mind control" and "hypnosis" in the kink world. It is the same as the stigma associated with breath control, blood, or any other "extreme" kink. To the player whose total experience is to be flogged and get an endorphin high, this doesn't seem like a healthy part of play.

A few years ago, the players who wanted a little light flogging and were aghast at anything that was not the "standard scene" seemed to be a strong majority. This was the time period when M/s practitioners feared marginalization or exclusion by the rest of the kink community.

Now of course that's changing. M/s is increasingly common and is seen as a healthy lifestyle extension of scene power dynamics, not some freakish thing for people who read too much fiction.

The YKINOK (Your Kink is Not Okay) crowd has slowly lost its voice since the turn of the century and while I am sure there are places it remains strong, in the major national and international forums where kink is discussed, there is broad acceptance of individual choice.

I read a story recently on Literotica which in many ways frightened me, not the least because I think ten years ago I might have found it interesting. It depicted a girl who was obsessed with dark sexuality and self destruction, who came to an "enlightened" Master. Her enlightened Master manged to completely "change" her personality.

Being an "enlightened" sort of course he didn't do much in the way of what we would identify as effective mind control. He alternated fairly conventional punishments (which he clearly enjoyed and considered superior to her kink because they were "less dangerous," humiliation and bathroom control (which he apparently just thought was hot), and talking nice. At the end of a few months, with a hard scene, voila her personality changed and remained okay forever after. The author makes sure to flash forward and tell himself this as if...possibly...he is reassuring himself.

I wonder how many Dominants have started down that primrose path with a girl who wanted help, and simply not been able to understand why, somewhere in the middle, it took a detour into a lack of control and a lack of ability to cause change that they could not fully understand.

The 800lb Gorilla ¹

(1) Do not change weight of gorilla in phrase, “800-lb gorilla in the room.” Correct weight is 800 lbs. DO NOT CHANGE GORILLA'S WEIGHT! - Fake AP Stylebook, 2009

I think with hypnosis and kink we need to look at the 800lb Gorilla in the room, which is nonconsent.

The underpinning of both SSC and RACK is "consent." And purists who like black and white lines and hate grey like to enshrine that word and...get very upset when anything blurs a clean definition.

Which..."mind control" does. What if someone can freely give consent. But...they have been influenced so heavily that the consent that they give is to something they would not have consented to before the influence?

There is the ugly spectre of Svengali turning Trilby into a robot-autonomaton, who may give consent to things she ought not - If your girl didn't like sucking cock before, and she now goes down on you like a French whore at every chance, because you changed her mind so that she wants to. Is the act consensual?

At the heart of this issued lies the stark concern that a Dominant can use hypnosis to

a) Make a bad or neglectful relationship seem good, so that a submissive stays when they should leave
b) Make unreasonable levels of control or cruelty seem reasonable
c) Erode the willpower of the submissive and increase their own control, creating an abusive situation.

I think we need to be honest and recognize that when relationships in the community go bad "abuser" is one of the first and most frequently hurled epithets. Often because there are elements of truth in it. Much of WIITWD is consenting to give or receive treatment that in the vanilla world is considered abusive. Vanilla people don't have to answer the question "well sure he pissed in your mouth, but was that abusive or just play?"

So the question can be made simpler. In BDSM we use many techniques and toys to coerce behavior. We use cuffs to keep someone from moving away when we hit them. We use hoods to take away their sight and make them suggestible, disorienting them. We already fuck with people's heads in an extreme fashion.

Is Hypnosis an "atom bomb" a technique so powerful that it must be given some sort of special status, and kept off limits. A weapon so serious that civilized states won't consider its use even when they will drop 10,000 lbs of ordnance that flatten buildings and incinerate civilians? Is it "special."

In regards to Training and Hypnosis, I'm going discuss this on three axis.

1) Universality

Hypnosis is nothing special. All of us use suggestibility all the time to influence human behaviors. Churches, Schools, Radio Advertisers and other institutions use hypnotic modalities that are aimed at bypassing Critical Area of the Mind in order to put information into Modern Memory. Hypnosis is, if anything, more controlled and honest.

It should be readily apparent by now that the vast majority of BDSM scenes involve some level of hypnosis. Impact play scenes may especially tend to introduce a hypnotic modality by overloading the mind with message units from the body.

There is a stigma attached to “doing it deliberately,” even if every Radio Advertiser and morning Drive-Time Jock is doing it deliberately and with full knowledge of the effect. Because it is not called “hypnosis” and they do not admit to playing with the subconscious mind.

Many individuals may find Control through Hypnosis unethical, even though their impact play scenes and whispered suggestions may be accomplishing precisely the same end, through precisely the same mental mechanisms.

2) Limitations

Hypnosis is a tool for making rapid changes to the subconscious mind. It is one of the few effective tools that really can break down inhibitions and prejudices. However...you can't change a person's basic beliefs and inclinations. You can modify, and sculpt...but your power to do this grows in direct proportion to their consensual involvement.

Hypnosis has somewhat of a fail-safe switch. Because few Hypnotists want to lose or abuse subjects there is surprisingly little research into what happens when a Hypnotist violates the boundaries and forces the Critical Area of the Mind to break state and “Safeword” by abreacting.

But in general, we think that the more than happens, the less responsive the subject is to that hypnotist. Just as, if you caused a bottom to “red” every five minutes, they might not wanna do another scene with you. Hypnotism is about the hypnotist and subject working together to open the Critical Area of the Mind. If that consent is withdrawn, then we don't get much effect.

There is not much anecdotal evidence on what happens if you have someone under your control and try to abusively force changes into their subconscious that they do not wish to accept. The reason for this is simple. We know about abreactions because ethical hypnotists occasionally hit "buried land mines" they didn't know about, and withdraw to discuss them. No ethical hypnotist has tried to force a subject to accept something that was strongly opposed to their basic will.

Hypnosis after initial induction is far more effective if it is discussed. There is the potential for implanting secret changes and post hypnotic suggestions, but...the more they are consciously understood the more effective they will be. It is also important to understand that the Critical Area of the Mind is not completely turned off. Our teaching indicates that the Subconscious will not accept a post hypnotic suggestion that is truly damaging or dangerous.

That said, I think it is somewhat "special." It provides a direct path to the subconscious and allows change to happen quickly and cleanly that might take months through standard pain/pleasure reward/penalty behavior modification techniques. It is the bullwhip of the world of mental BDSM...a toy that even the strongest person cannot easily resist. But like the bullwhip it is also capable of a great degree of subtlety and flexibility and is a tool with a great range of useful functions.

3) Goals

The question is, "what is our goal." The classic dyanmic is a partner who wants to be less inhibited about their kink, or to feel more controlled. And we already do things which influence their subconscious mind to make that happen. Our goal is not to subvert them or do things they do not want, but rather to work with them on a shared wish for change.

I think this is an area where we have to be realistic and realize that not every top is good, or unselfish, or foward-thinking, but play is going to occur anyway, and people for all their failings and foibles do move forward and live rewarding lives.

Not every goal is going to be high minded. The guy who wants his girl to suck cock more aggressively while she's indifferent to it isn't exactly seeking to improve her life and enrich her spiritually. He just wants to cum in her mouth more. On the other hand there is presumably

That said, it should be taken as seriously as any other Top/Bottom play. No responsible Top would lie to the bottom about basic safety information or do things to make them less happy and safe in their daily life.

The same rule applies to hypnosis. Because it is a powerful tool for modifying reactions and behavior, it is something that should not be taken lightly.


Some Suggested Guidelines

While hypnosis can be done as a partnership (pathworkings, self-hypnosis, shared visualization, and some methods of clinical hypnosis) in erotic hypnosis the hypnotists tends to assert Control over the subject…just as a Dominant must establish control over a submissive.

The issue of increasing psychological dependence is a difficult one. Much of D/s Training revolves around the dependence of the submissive on the Dominant, often taking the role of a surrogate parent, especially in cases where the trainee did not have a parent or did not have a competent or compassionate parent.

My suggestion is that Hypnosis cannot be used either to subvert that dynamic, nor to put it in place where it does not exist. If there is already a mutual agreement that it should exist, then Hypnosis may be a tool for strengthening it.

I think we need to recognize that it is a non-trivial tool...but it is a good one. You wouldn't use a bullwhip on someone without knowing what you were doing and using care. It is a tool that has the potential to leave lasting or permanent marks.

The ethical implication of Control-Oriented Hypnosis may be likened to a brand in the mind. Very few of us would casually tattoo our name onto someone, or brand them with our symbol.

I think that the degree of change applied through hypnosis should be commensurate with and mirror that within the relationship overall, and should be treated as a “permanent mark.” If it is change that is not directly instigated or requested by the submissive...or if the submissive has a tendency to make unwise requests...it is the role of the Dominant to be responsible and moderate what is done.

Benefits and Outcomes

Hypnosis is the ultimate and most powerful tool to end sleepless nights and tearful cycles of failure. How many times have we looked at a submissive who desperately wants to be okay with their sexuality, who desperately wants to move towards normalacy and be able to enjoy life and who cannot because of conflicts embedded deep in their subconscious which they can understand logically but cannot resolve emotionally. How many times do we hear "I hate myself" or descriptions of a pitched battle within the mind.

Whether the goal is to create an ability to cum in scene while under duress that has frustrated attempts at otherwise satisfying sceneplay, or to dig down and resolve and balance a deep conflict of shame that goes to the core of sexual persona, Hypnosis is one of the more powerful tools available.

It is not a panacea, and must be used as part of an overall approach to Dominance, though even in short sessions it can have substantial effects.

Let's consider some constructive uses:

Breaking Previous Control
Through guided visualization, it is possible to reduce or remove feelings of previous control that are undesirable. The techniques for this are a study unto themselves, however the root element lies in revisiting the past situation of control, and going through a visualization of systematic desensitization, where each time the control is felt less and less strongly.

The applications here should be obvious. How many players in the Community have some fixation...an early and abusive boyfriend, a parent, an abuser...whose control over their current behavior they would like to break forever?

Sexual Trauma and Healing
It is not up to me to suggest whether or not the Dominant should act as a Counselor to his Submissive. That said, I think we must acknowledge that very often the Dominant is put in this position, and has little choice other than to use the best tools at his disposal.

Milton Erickson and other Psychologists who pioneered the use of Hypnosis in Clinical Therapy believed that it was such a powerful tool that only Medical Doctors and Licensed Psychologists should be allowed to use it.

Against this we have the fact that there is no Salesman or Clergyman that is not using hypnotic modality to influence you on a daily basis. From Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” to the latest Car Dealership Blowout, everyone is using hypnotic modality to influence you.

If you approach a clergyman for counseling, he cannot say "go away and see a Doctor that is not my problem." He can counsel you to see a Doctor, but he must also address your needs. I think that in most cases where a relationship exists (as opposed to casual sceneplay) a Dominant is in the same position. He may and should suggest formal counseling. But he is also in the position of being the one who understands, and can see the whole situation, and he must be prepared to provide a first line of understanding and control. The Dominant who shirks this responsibility because he is "not a professional" may in fact be taking the pleasure and passing the buck.

To delve into someone’s past sexual traumas and attempt to aid or resolve them requires a dedication and care. It is my personal opinion that a relationship with a Dominant should not replace (or subvert) Counseling, and potentially medication by a Psychiatrist.

But in the end, the ethical question must revolve around necessity. The broken submissive is a known quantity in our community and the role of many Dominants, Daddies, and Masters as “fixers” well understood.

If the Dominant’s role is to delve, does he or she want the best tools possible? Hypnosis is a good one.

I would recommend advanced training, and a good understanding of the basic principles, as well as a great deal of patience and compassion. The details of how to address Trauma fall outside the scope of this Presentation, but other resources are available online.

Resources

The “high end” choice for Hypnosis is to study Psychology in a University Masters or Doctoral program that includes hypnotherapy. For most of us that is not practical or relevant.

Hypnosis Motivation Institute is an Accredited California-based school that is one of the largest training facilities for Hypnotherapy in the Country. HMI also teaches numerous courses for laypeople, including classes on Neuro-Linguistic Processing, and other elements of the mind.

HMI holds a U.S. Department of Education recognized ACCET Accreditation (ACCET ID #304) for Vocational and Continuing Education.

They offer a free fourteen hour online introductory class, which covers everything I’ve told you here and more. The class is an excellent value, but…please do not suggest to this legitimate institution that you were sent to them by me, to use the information you receive in kinky sexual play. Just as an Amish wood-worker would probably stop making you flogger handles if he knew what they were for, these people are in the business of training Clinical Workers, not supplying you information to take back to your kink practice. That's a sad fact of the vanilla world, and I am trying to build kink resources that stand on their own, but for now this is one of the best resources available and it is vanilla.


Psychological Resources

Understanding the Psychology of yourself and your submissive the first step in being a more effective Dominant or Master. It is my personal feeling that Hypnosis is lacking outside the larger context of an overall psychological approach to D/s, and an understanding of how the human mind really works. I referenced the PAC model explicitly, and I want to suggest the following resources as well:

I'm OK, You're OK,
by Thomas A Harris MD
readily available at Barnes and Noble, or used at Alibris
Harris presents the most human and accessible version of the “Parent /Adult/Child” model of Transactional Analysis put forward by Eric Berne. The book is a simplification, but unless you like thick writing, the simplification is welcome and it forms an excellent introduction.

If you’re a bit more of a mental masochist, check out Berne’s own books on the subject.

Games People Play : The Psychology of Human Relationships
by Eric Berne
Is one of the core references for the PAC model.

The Principles of Hypnosis - basic hypnosis - Part III

First a shout out to a blog I've been particularly impressed by:

A Journey to a Door

The blog is a set of personal stories on humiliation and life experience. I've gotten a chance to chat with Marilyn, the author, and I'm impressed with her in many ways. She tells a powerful and meaningful set of stories about humiliation and life experience in simple, easy to read prose. Her writing isn't stark, but it isn't pretentious...it's measured, well paced, and has the strong feeling of reality that goes when an author understands the emotional truth of the thing they are writing.

On different, note, the big section of the handout that I am not reproducing here is the induction. For the class, I reproduced some boilerplate inductions, but I'm working on some of my own and I'll post those as I get to them. Until then, there are online resources we'll mention in Part IV where you can get good ideas about inductions.

Today we're going to get into the core principles that provide a structure for hypnotism.

Principles of Hypnosis

So I have someone hypnotized. What do I do now?. Giving Viable suggestions requires understanding of five basic laws.

• Reverse Reaction
• Repetition
• Dominance
• Delayed Action
• Association

The of Reverse Reaction

Reverse Reaction, also called Reverse Psychology suggests that a person will respond to the stronger part of a suggestion rather than the weaker unless they are strongly disposed not to. It reaches both the Critical and Primitive Areas of the mind. It also allows the subject a “way out” if he or she strongly disagrees with a command, but reinforces it if they desire it.

This emphasizes a basic fact. We are not really doing "involuntary mind control" or "brainwashing" here. The more that the subject is on board with and a voluntary participant in the hypnosis, the more powerful and valid it will be.

Very passive aggressive subjects may try to sabotage their own hypnosis, and that is something to be aware of when making use of this Principle.

An example

“Your eyelids are very heavy. You may try to open them, but you cannot. The harder you try the heavier they become.” This presents an alternative, but the mind will instinctively take the stronger option.


The Principle of Repetition

Repetition simply means to repeat things. We do this with exercise, and study. Flash Cards employ the Principle of Repetition. Constant repetition of suggestions strengthens them. We feel that a suggestion has become an almost absolute part of someone’s psyche when they have heard it around 18-28 times.

We naturally understand this. One common defense mechanism is to stop others from repeating things we do not wish to allow past our critical area of the mind. This Principle is why propaganda is often effective on a massive scale even when people wish objectively to disbelieve it. To reject a message that is very strongly repeated takes energy and effort.

We have defensive behaviors to "tune out" repetitions that we do not wish to allow into our critical are of mind. This may be beneficial - for example turning off a racist or anti-sex message rather than listening to it...or it may be be destructive, such as a partner who cuts his or her spouse off before they repeat any criticism, so that they do not have to internalize something which they know objectively is an actual failing.

The Principle of Dominance

Dominance means taking an authoritative tone. It means exactly what you think that it means. Just as a Dom in scene cannot seem weak-willed, or hesitant, the Hypnotist must seem strong and authoritative. Psychology builds a sense of comfort and pushes exchange as equals. Hypnosis sets up an authoritarian structure in which one partner is in control and directs the experience. This concept should be familiar and comfortable to most of us in the kinky world.

The Principle of Delayed Action

The Principle of Delayed Reaction means that you will not necessarily get a reaction immediately. Because inferences pass into the Subconscious mind slowly, bypassing the Critical Area of Mind, it often takes a day, two days, or even a week, before a reaction takes place. It may be triggered by being in a situation that has been described. For example, if you suggest “your orgasms are deeper and more powerful” that may not happen immediately after hypnosis, but instead happen next Thursday. Patience is important.

The Principle of Association

The Principle of Association suggests that whenever we repeatedly respond to one stimulus in the presence of another, they become associated. So the voice of the hypnotist becomes associated with hypnosis. It also means that once a subject has accepted one suggestion they will be far more likely to suggest another. Thus starting with small suggestions and building a “ladder of success” upwards is critical. Reinforcing the Principle of Association will increase it’s effectiveness.

Obviously this has a lot of potential in regards to eroticization, and D/s training in general. Most "training" already relies on what amounts to Hypnosis (overload of stimulus) to produce a suggestible state, and heighten Association.

Applications to WIITWD

The applications of Hypnosis to BDSM D/s and related Play/Work are many and varied. In many cases they are quite obvious. The focus of this class has been to provide a good basic grounding in how to induce Hypnosis in order to allow you to experiment with a consensual partner.
Orgasm and Arousal Control
If Hypnosis can cure impotence in men and women, it can also extend what is already good. Simply put, suggestions about increasing quality and intensity of orgasm are usually very effective. They can be coupled with The Principle of Association to produce….specific effects.

For example, I have used a suggestion on one of my girls that she becomes aroused when a finger or leather crop is touched to a certain place on her body. This creates an ‘instant turn on’

Other people have taken this further and created a suggestion to orgasm upon hearing a certain word. Obviously this needs to be used carefully, but it is a powerful and effective tool if used with some thought and care.

The Principle of Association provides endless opportunities to fetishize or eroticize various activities or objects.

Visualization
Probably the most commonly used method of hypnosis is visualization. This is much like a guided meditation or Pathworking, but because it is guided by the hypnotist, it can become a sort of “hypno-drama” making very real experiences. This may be a way to roleplay fetishes too intense for actual play, or to increase comfort with fetishes that the subject “isn’t ready for yet.” It is a good and enriching tool that creates a demand for more.

Dream Influences
Suggestions to dream on a certain topic are usually effective. In therapy this is used for venting, but erotic dreams can increase comfort level with erotic subjects or simply create arousal.

Anxiety Relief
Many Dominants find that part of their function is to relieve anxieties in their submissives. As a Dominant, I spent…hundreds of hours…working with anxious girls. This technique cannot replace human caring, touch and comfort. But it can allow the Dominant to “get through” and calm and comfort.

The Physical will respond well to physical suggestions…”your breathing is getting calmer.” With the emotional you need to get behind the reasons for the Anxiety “you may tend to notice that you are feeling more confident about your body…”

Eroticization of Anxiety
For many players, Anxiety already carries an Erotic edge. Hypnosis presents a viable tool for converting more Anxiety into eros.

Control
We discussed control above. Without regard to the ethics, obvious the ability to fetishize objects or activities carries over to people. The ability to associate sexual pleasure, or other positives with a given person may certainly create a level of control, but simply put, this is creating a rather strong chain and should not be done lightly.

Which segues neatly to...next...

Later this week...we'll get into the interesting and fertile ground that makes everybody cream and argue...the Ethics of Erotic Hypnosis and what you can do with it.

Myths and Facts about Hypnotism? - basic hypnosis - Part II

Myths and the archetype of "Svengali"

Through the earlier half of the 20th century, an oft-quoted statistic suggested that only about fifty percent of the population could be hypnotized. There are other myths about hypnosis, the most common being that intelligent people cannot be hypnotized because they are "too smart to fall for it," or that only weak-willed people can be hypnotized.

Because hypnotism is a natural extension of how we learn and process information, it is immediately obvious that bright people can be hypnotized. In fact, they probably get more out of it than most others, just like they may get more out of reading or listening. I've found that the more intelligent a subject is, the better they tend to respond to hypnosis. I tend to believe this is because a person who is more intelligent is more likely to have pre-existing levers to help get beneficial concepts through the critical are of mind. Even someone very self-destructive, who is also intelligent, may have a lot of channels "around" their self-destruction carved by intellect.

And of course, being hypnotized has nothing to do with being weak-willed. The concept goes back to the image of George du Maurier's Svengali, who wields an unhealthy power over the innocent young (and eponymous) heroine Trilby. If you're not familiar with the stereotype of Svengali, Phantom of the Opera is essentially the same story with the antagonist presented in a rightly more sympathetic light.

I won't go into a lengthy revisionist interpretation of Trilby (Svengali does better by her than might generally be assumed) but merely say that the fact that a strong-willed older man can dominate a younger girl does not establish a model for hypnotism, but for a power exchange relationship.

Most subjects of hypnosis are not Trilby. They are as likely to be Svengali. The cultural tar-brush of being associated with a weak-willed and originally talentless young girl has kept many away from the hypnotists' chair out of fear of comparison. In fact the strong willed likely make better subjects having more ability to assist in pushing mutually agreed upon information through the critical area of the mind, and greater ability to master the "willing suspension of disbelief."

But the myth remains that only half the population can be hypnotized. In the early 1960s, Dr. John Kappas came to believe that he had the key to a major element of suggestibility when he identified what he called "Emotional" and "Physical" personality types. In practice, his distinctions, while not perhaps as unique as he would like them to be, seem to bear out empirically and a large school of hypnotism which gets good results have been founded on his behavioral model.

We now know that most people can be hypnotized, but that about half the population has a different suggestibility that does not look like the classic “stage hypnosis”

Everyone can be hypnotized. The overload of message units that bypasses critical area of mind takes place:

• Driving a car, when our conscious mind disengages and we are not aware that we are driving

• Watching a movie when we jump in our seat or cry because we have lost the line that tells us that the movie is “not real.”

In fact the “willing suspension of disbelief” is synonymous with “helping to bypass the critical mind.”

E & P Personality Types

The first thing to understand about "Emotional" versus "Physical" sexual-personality types is that the terms were first used in a clinical setting, talking to Hypnotherapists. They don't refer to the actual traits but to the defense mechanisms.

Now Dr. Kappas was a smart guy but not apparently an advertiser or communications specialist. Rather than come up with more descriptive names, he shortened them to "E" and "P" since that would be easier for a layman to understand....err...hmmm....helpful like cats John...

The full exploration of "Emotional" and "Physical" Suggestibility and Sexuality is beyond the scope of this writeup. We will focus on the Empiric characteristics that allow you to recognize and hypnotize Emotional and Physical Suggestibles.

The E&P Suggestibility and Sexuality model presents a valuable method for analyzing relationship dynamics, and we'll revisit the model in that capacity, but for now we are going to focus on what it means for human suggestibility.

"Emotionals" (people who are emotionally defensive)

"Emotional" means "uses emotional defense mechanisms to safeguard the physical body and the ego" not "is gothic" or "projects wild emotions..." Emotionals respond to attempts to touch their physical body or induce physical intimacy by putting up ego defenses of fear

The suggestibility of the Emotional is based on a defense to protect his or her physical body. They will lead with their emotions before they will accept physical touch. This doesn’t mean being “overtly emotional” rather that they will experience embarrassment, fear, anger, anxiety, irritation, or frustration as a line of defense to protect their physical body from “invasion” (unwelcome touch, physical intimacy, etc.).

The Emotional suggestible may be overly concerned with what others think of them, and easily embarrassed by their physical body.

The Emotional ends up repressing feelings in the physical body, and becomes “more remote.”

Being an Emotional Suggestible is often a response to the behavior of the primary caregiver. In the first five years, if Mommy said “I love you” but appeared detached and distant, the Emotional learned not to trust the direct language, but to look for the meaning “behind words.”

The Emotional tends to speak very literally but takes information in inferentially

Well adjusted emotional - the sober businessman who seems unemotional, but is solid and reliable. He comes out around his family and close friends and can be warm at times.

Poorly adjusted emotional - the workaholic who has gone through two divorces, and never has time for his family, who seems to enjoy putting rules and money ahead of any human considerations in the name of a "logic" so cold it is scarcely logical at all. The "human factor" infuriates him.


Physicals (people who are physically defensive)

The Physical uses their physical body as a defense to protect their emotions. They respond to physical touch positively and seem to need a lot of it, as it represents acceptance. They fear being emotionally "crushed" more than they fear touch or harm.

Talking Physicals tend to be very animated and use a lot of gestures, and want to get close to the person they are talking to.

Often Physicals are social and outgoing, tend to dominate conversations, and have difficulty understanding the emotions of others because they cannot relate to what other people say and feel, only to what they say and feel.

The Physical tends to speak inferentially but take in information very literally

Well adjusted physical - the sexually active woman athlete. She likes volleyball, and tends to hang around with "the guys" a lot, is social and outgoing. She may have a few partners, and she is conscioius of setting boundaries to keep from getting too deeply hurt by them, while remaining intimate.

Poorly adjusted physical - the sexually active girl who has to climb on everyone's lap. Barely aware of the other women around, she throws herself bodily at anyone who might give her touch and attention, often drinking or getting high without really understanding why it helps her to act out. Driven by emotion she has trouble maintaining a steady relationship, but is devestated when they fair.

Confusion

Do not confuse how someone wants to respond with how they do respond. Use inferences to communicate with Emotionals and direct literal suggestions to communicate with Physicals.

Making Suggestions

Our business with these types is knowing how to make suggestions to them. Use Literal suggestions with Physicals, Inferential suggestions with Emotionals.

With Emotionals, you have to get “behind” the issue. For example, in conventional hypnosis, if client lacked confidence speaking in public, with the physical you might suggest that “You will be more confident talking to a group of people because it allows you to be more successful.”

With the Emotional you might need to find out how they feel about the situation (embarrassed, not up to it, etc.) and then have them imagine feeling comfortable in a group situation and that they are an adequate person, and that now that they are comfortable their anxiety will dissipate. This creates a comfortable “known.”

Emotionals often experience delayed reaction , whereas Physicals often notice a result right away.

Special Cases

Equally suggestible. Some people fall near the 50-50% mark, and are about as suggestible in both directions.

Intellectual Suggestibles. Some very high Emotional suggestible need a “reason” for everything. They want a “why.” You must not only use inferred suggestions, but give a reason why they will work.

The best way to handle this sort of person, rather than rationalizing each statement, is to use a method known as “auto dual” where you have them repeat everything after you and explain that they will hypnotize themselves.

Now that we've explained this very important area of suggestibility...(we'll revisit it later as a theory of human sexuality) we're ready to discuss the Laws of Hypnosis, and also the....ethical concerns and considerations...the juicy breast meat I know you've all be waiting for.

Introduction to Erotic Hypnosis - basic hypnosis - Part I

An Empircal Model of the Mind

In the next few posts, I am going to go over the basic material from my Erotic Hypnosis Class, breaking it into segments for easy digestion. We'll start with the empirical model of the mind (1) that we use for modeling reactions and personality.

Introduction

The Theory of Mind is an empirical model for explaining how human beings behave and respond to hypnosis. It may differ or conflict with other scientific models. Psychology is a Science. Hypnosis is Engineering. Scientists can ask difficult questions about the weak force of gravitation. Engineers need hard numbers to build bridges. If you understand this model, it will give you a framework to constructively explain and understand behavior. You may want to combine it with other models and theories – for example I combine it with Eric Berne’s theory of Transactional Analysis. The point is to present a framework for understanding behavior.

Basic structure of the mind

Conscious Mind – everything you are thinking right now and remember from about the past hour and a half

Critical Area of Mind – part conscious and part subconscious. This area contains your memories of the last 24 hours. It is the filter between the Conscious mind and the Subconscious mind. The object of Hypnosis is to bypass the Critical Area of Mind and speak directly to the Subconscious mind. The Critical Area of mind cannot be completely bypassed. If a hypnotic suggestion is given to a subject which is either detrimental to their health and safety or goes in total opposition to their way of thinking, they will reject it. Critical Area of Mind forms from about age 7-14

Modern Memory Area – everything you remember from conception to the present life. “Nurture” Good or bad: Wear a raincoat, good girls don’t. Religion, Parental Edicts, Friends Beliefs, Television…

Roughly, Life Scripts and Parental knowledge according to Berne's Transactional Analysis Model. This is the area we most strongly address in Hypnosis.

Note that the Modern Memory Area has no ability to recognize conflicts. Thus if information was put into it by two different sources, and they were able to bypass critical area of mind, either because we were too young, or because we were in a suggestible state, the conflict exists. This is particularly true of sexual behaviors.

Primitive Area of Mind – genetic and evolved learning. “Nature” Running away, impulse to kill, wanting to eat. Roughly, Child according to a T/A Model.

What is Fight and Flight?

The survival instinct is based around a choice between Fight and Flight

When we are threatened we are triggered to run away, or fight (Sympathetic Nervous System)

When we cannot run away, (because we are trapped, or because we are out of energy or have run away from the immediate danger but still feel threatened) we “play dead” – retreat into a passive apathetic state where we don’t call any attention to ourselves. We retreat into the Primitive (Subconscious) mind.

Fight and Flight lead to nervous anxiety and tension. If the attempt at flight is frustrated it leads to repression (taking things inside, constructing defense mechanisms, illusion of control) or depression (escape into fantasy, sleep, etc.)

Sensory Input (Message Units)

Humans receive sensory input (message units) into the brain from 4 Sources:

The External Environment – weather, television, jobs, partners, traffic - example "It's windy and dark"

Our Body – digestion, aches, pains etc.- example "I am thirsty"

Conscious Mind – logic, reason, objective decision making (Adult in T/A) - example "after this class I want to go find that hot girl/guy"

Subconscious Mind – everything we have ever learned from religion, parents, peers, etc., whether it conflicts or not.- example "that girl/guy is 'hot'"...."oh why?"...."uh...I dunno...I like his/her ass"..."really why?...."I dunno it just...makes me hard/wet" (responding to subconscious stimuli you don't fully understand...

Critical area of mind forms between 8-14 years of age. During this time we stop accepting all suggestions and ideas implicitly and begin to question them, as we are increasingly faced with contradictions and issues. We form Critical Area of the Mind to protect the Subconscious, filtering what goes into it.

After we are about 8-14 years old we reject most new ideas that are offered to our modern memory area by filtering, either immediately through logical thought...or after sleep. That's why we tend to reject an idea after we've "slept on it." We tend to accept ideas if they get past our critical area of mind. This happens with strong emotion (being in love) with drug use (I was drunk) and with any hypnotic modality that tends to increase suggestibility. Our school teacher, Radio ads, magazine ads, and church are all hypnotic modalities. Suggestibility is how we learn as humans and we cannot do without it.

Through Hypnosis we seek to bypass the Critical Area of mind and put ideas directly into the Modern Memory Area.

Pain Pleasure Syndrome

This is a short, but useful, digression on the concept of "knowns" and "unknowns"

“What you don’t know can kill you.” That’s an evolutionary mechanism. It makes us have anxiety about unknowns, and feel comfortable with knowns.

Some theorists go so far as to say we feel knowns as pleasure and unknowns as pain.

This is generally a good adaptation. But it can end up meaning that someone likes abuse or pain, because it is a “known.”

Most of us have some qualities like this, BDSM offers a constructive way to channel those qualities without actual abuse detrimental to our lives. Outside BDSM, many people end up in abusive relationships because past abuse makes them desire a "known" that is not healthy. If they have strong emotional attachments to that "known"...it means love, sexual arousal, acceptance, etc., then they will tend to follow it even at the cost of their self-respect or mental well being.

What is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis occurs when an overload of message units causes the conscious mind to shut down and induces a retreat into the primitive mind. This creates a hypersuggestible state, allowing us direct access to the subconscious mind.

If this happens in an uncontrolled situation it can create futility, melancholy, and being over-receptive to negative input. We lose our defenses.

Hypnosis is in many ways the mental equivalent of BDSM. We create a positive situation in which to experience this state, making it pleasant and relaxing instead of depressive. Therefore we achieve a positive rather than negative outcome.

1. The core concept of suggestibility as presented here was originally described by Dr. John G. Kappas, Ph.D.

Thanks to Everyone - Camp Crucible!

Thanks to everyone who attended my Introduction to Erotic Hypnosis at Camp Crucible this weekend!

You were a great audience! I hope everyone experiments with the materials, and lets me know through the address here how they are doing. My best regards especially to Cat Ballou, Robert the Bruce, and the other folks who I talked to afterwards over the course of the weekend.

There aren't a lot of hypnosis resources on the website yet, but I'm working on posting them as fast as is practical. I'll also try and link from my FL profile...for folks who haven't found me there I'm James_dc.

Best regards to everyone. I'm hoping to post a number of articles in the next two weeks which have been backlogged for months...this blog hasn't been very active, but I've got six or eight pieces backlogged in draft that I just haven't polished to final.

If you're interested, please click on the contact link to the left, or add this blog to your RSS! Best regards and watch this space for more of interest.