Twitter Thread: Ignore Suggestibility | 9/6/21
Added 2022-09-29 19:57:53 +0000 UTCOriginal thread: https://twitter.com/h_sleepingirl/status/1434902357553332225
Full article based on this topic: https://www.patreon.com/posts/value-of-and-56290333
One of the biggest tips I have for (especially newer) hypnotists is to almost completely ignore the idea of "suggestibility". You can't boil down the whole of how someone processes experiences, trance, and language to a single concept.
Does hypnosis affect the way that someone processes and experiences their own internal brainstuff + external worldstuff? Yes, it totally can. But with a wild amount of nuance. It's not a sliding scale, and trance (also complicated) doesn't guarantee certain responses.
My advice is to get muscle memory and technique down where you aren't relying on "increased suggestibility." Pretend you need to convince your partner that things are happening and that suggestions are powerful.
In general, approach hypnosis scenes with curiosity rather than rigidness. Ask more suggestive questions ("What do you feel when I whisper to your mind?"). Your curious attitude is infectious: you want your partner to share it and be non-judgmental about their responses.
These two principles will help develop a great baseline for hypnotic play. As you learn your partner, you'll get a better understanding of how different trances affect their processing.
You'll learn the signs of when they're very "deep" and dissociated, and what that means for the suggestions you give. You'll learn when their brain is racing and how to take advantage of that. All sorts of permutations.
I think there are different "states" that we call trance/hypnosis, but very much of the time it's good to learn as though "trance" didn't exist. Instead: Collaborative, imaginative, persuasive role-enactment. "Nonstate theory" stuff (dated, but good rabbit hole to look up).
Tl;Dr, to learn good techniques for hypnosis, pretend that trance doesn't exist. Bizarrely, we can do absolutely magical things with hypnosis, but most effectively when we don't necessarily treat it like magic.
