Healing and Hypnotherapy Volume 5, Issue -3, 1 September 2020 | Page 19

patter. And while many things can induce trance (driving, anxiety, television,
etc.), none of these accidental inductions have the power to heal the way
poetry does.
As I get to know my clients and what metaphors and images they resonate
with, I may read poetry to them as an induction. From this framework I can
then weave the metaphors from the poem through the hypnosis as a way of
delivering the hypnotic suggestions. It is a bit Eriksonian, and works equally
well for literal and inferential learners.
Poetry as Suggestion
Even before I became a hypnotherapist, people would come to me in
search of help or wisdom. While I often didn’t know what to say, I knew I
could always turn to poets—who have been making sense of the world for a
lot longer than I have. I would open a well-read book of poetry or poetic
prose and find just the right quote to read to them. So, on becoming a
hypnotherapist, it was natural for me to look for hypnotic suggestions in
poetry. Once you open yourself to the world of poetry, you will find that
poems reflect the majority of issues we deal with in therapy – fears,
relationships, communication, connection, hobbies, habits. Not only will you
find suggestions in poetry, but powerful imagery and metaphors. For
example, a lovely poem called “Ballplayer” by Evie Shockley can make an
outdoor basketball game seem vividly alive and interesting to anyone that
has ever watched a pick-up game. To an athlete who may be struggling with
performance, it can add just the right magic into the hypnotic part of the
session.
Some poems are so powerful they become personal mantras, especially
during difficult or unreal times. For example, “Wait,” by Galway Kinnell,
might be the mantra for someone who feels they have nothing to live for —
who fears they might take their own life. Below are the first few lines from
that lovely poem.
“Wait, for now.

Distrust everything, if you have to But trust the hours. Haven’t they
carried you everywhere, up to now?

Personal events will become interesting again.”
Another poem, by Dylan Thomas, whose famous ending couplet has
become the personal mantra for thousands, is: