Calibration applies equally to highly directive paternal hypnosis , and also to conversational hypnosis .
Once you have an overall impression of the subject , you ’ re well equipped to calibrate any changes that tell you that trance is occurring . If you don ’ t calibrate , you ’ re essentially doing hypnosis in the dark . Years ago , I watched a hypnotist working with a subject who went in and out of trance repeatedly , but the hypnotist never noticed , because she was completely focused on her induction ! I was in the audience . I watched the external trance indicators , ( ETIs ) form and fade . The hypnotist didn ’ t seem to notice because she barely looked at her subject !
Remember : You can ’ t see what you ’ re not looking for ! Here ’ s a short list of the sort of external trance indicators that are very common :
• Deeper breathing , or any breathing shifts
• Twitching muscles
• Head tipping forward
• Eyelids fluttering
• Lower lip seems to increase in size
• Eyes unfocused and staring
• Blink reflex slows or stops completely
• Eyes reddening or tearing
• Slower response to what you say or ask When you see a number of trance indicators , and if you have rapport , you might only have to say eyes closed now ... and the subject will drop into trance . I ’ ve put people into trance like this , literally hundreds , if not thousands of times . Rapport Rapport is a sense of connectedness between the hypnotist and the subject . It causes the subject to feel both understood and valued . It ’ s sometimes described as : Entering the other person ’ s model of the world . One of the most powerful things you can do in conversational hypnosis is to build and maintain strong rapport . People who are in rapport with each other feel connected . It ’ s something that good friends do automatically and naturally . They are in what ’ s known as a psychodynamic loop with each other , constantly affecting each other as they interact .