A while back a client of mine told me after a session that when she closed her eyes she didn’t see a thing. That sounded about right to me, except, I had been telling her to picture or to visualize an image. We had been working together for a while and she was having great success and sharing stories of some of her adventures while in the chair that had me riveted. Therefore, it never occurred to me that she was fighting the visualization idea.
This was earlier in my career with hypnosis and I hadn’t fully embraced client centered hypnosis. I still read scripts a bit more than I should have and I relied on whatever limited tools and protocols I had been given in my first classes. Don’t get me wrong, I feel that I was well trained, I just lacked the experience and confidence I now have. So, had I listened to her words better, I might have caught that she was more kinesthetic than visual. But, I hadn’t and she kept trying to picture whatever scenarios we set up.
After she shared that she saw nothing with me, the light dawned, the bells rang and I could feel her pain! That is to say, I understood the need to use her language. Not just in repeating goals, but the types of words as well. I explained to her that not all people are visual, but, they can imagine. She had a superior imagination (oh how I wish I could have enjoyed the horseback rides into caverns that she had imagined!) it was just more sensory for her. That is when I realized just how important all the senses are in a session. Beyond sight is smell, taste, sound and touch. When I include all the senses now, a client can go deeper into the event and get even more out of it.
So, for all you readers who close your eyes and don’t see a thing, stop worrying that you are doing something wrong. There is no one path into trance, it is varied and wonderful as each and every individual is.
