Best Friend

This deepener is a variation of Milton Erickson’s “My Friend John” method. It works well for resistant subjects as most people like to help others or show them what to do; consequently the subject, in showing his best friend how to go into trance, goes into trance himself (or herself).

Here’s what to say:

“See that chair over there? I’d like you to imagine that your best friend is sitting there, wanting to be hypnotized, and that you’re the one who is going to show him how to do it. So form an awareness of how your friend looks, whilst sitting there. Give the instructions to your friend after me (in your mind, if you wish).”

“Tell your best friend to close his eyes. Tell him to relax the tiny muscles around the eyes. Are they relaxed? Good, now tell him to relax all of the facial muscles and very slowly, very gradually, talk him through relaxing the rest of his body, working down from the head to the toes and the shoulders to the fingertips.”

Give a long pause to allow your subject to carry out this instruction, intercepted with “that’s right” “good”, “relax”, very softly. Watch your subject for muscle relaxation and change of skin colour. Then continue:

“Now tell your best friend to breathe slowly, and deeply, in and out, deeper and deeper. Now tell him that in a moment one of his hands will begin to feel light and floaty. He might begin to wonder whether it will be the right hand or the left hand. Tell him that those fingers are lifting ever so slowly, ever so gently, off his lap (or wherever the hand is resting), and it is beginning to float all the way up.”

This is an excellent tester to see how your subject is responding. By now his own hand should begin to lift, and when you observe the signs of this, encourage the movement by saying “lighter and lighter”.

“And when his hand touches his face you will go into a very deep trance. You will hear everything that I say but you will feel so comfortably relaxed that you just want to sink deeper and deeper down into that wonderful feeling.”

If by chance the hand does not move at all, deepen the trance further by asking him to take his friend down a very steep staircase. Be sure first though that he is not afraid of heights.