Don Draper the Hypnotherapist
After finishing up with a client in session one day, she said, “Hey, that line you used when I was hypnotized, did that come from Mad Men (an amazing show on AMC)?” Oh no, I’ve been caught! Quick, lie.
“No, I don’t think so. Why?” I said.
“Oh, I am pretty sure Don Draper said that to Peggy Olson in last week’s episode.”
Actually, it was 2 weeks ago. “Well, maybe I did use a couple of words. (5 to be exact. So don’t sue me.) Did you like it?”
“Yes, I did. It totally fit.”
What most people don’t know is when a hypnotherapist leaves school, they are armed with a pile of script books and a few more they bought online so they are completely covered for any type of problem. What they don’t know yet is 90% of those scripts are complete garbage and won’t do anything for the client, and the other 10% only contains bits and pieces worth keeping.
The good hypnotherapists take bits here and there and create loose outlines of scripts that they memorize and customize to the client’s needs and issues. Hence, sometimes you will hear a line from a great book or movie that inspired the practitioner to incorporate it into a healing process. Some hypnotherapists are more creative than others, which explains the vast difference between practitioners.
Many hypnotherapists trade great scripts like baseball cards in online forums and groups. I once traded a copy of my book with a hypnotherapist from England for a sleep script that read like a page from Harry Potter. I didn’t use much of it, but I sure loved reading it.
Personally, I rarely use script since I really like weaving a client’s own words into the session, but there are a couple of processes I wrote that use numbers where I have to use the script so I don’t lose track.
It’s been my experience that the best hypnotherapists, in addition to being intuitive, analytical and good listeners, are also very good story tellers.
You see, the unconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between a real or an imagined event. This is why when you have a dream that grandma is chasing you with a chicken, you wake up all freaked out even though you know grandma is dead, and even when she was alive, you know she didn’t run anywhere. A good hypnotherapist helps the unconscious mind get past a problem by telling it a good story about why the elevator isn’t really a scary place and why cigarettes are something it would never want to touch again. After all, isn’t it true that any good story helps you feel something and see the world in general a little differently? So go read a good book (I recommend Outlander), watch Mad Men or just daydream, and if you hear something in session that sounded like it came from The Matrix or Lord of the Rings, um… well… maybe.
Jill Thomas CCHT
Healthy Habits Hypnosis
760-803-2841
www.healthyhabitshypnosis.com
http://www.facebook.com/healthyhabitshypnosis
Author of the book “Feed Your Real Hunger” & “30 day weight loss Jumpstart” Hypnosis CD
For more information and free hypnosis meditations visit www.healthyhabitshypnosis.com