.jpg)
Suggestibility Test Are Outdated
Sorry I haven’t been around the last few weeks but I have been trying to handle the fallout due to a recent fire. Yes, you heard me right I have had to deal with a small fire that broke out at my home.
I lost my computers in the fire as well as some of my books and training material. The fire department says I had some bad wiring, which I can believe as my house needed some updated. So by the grace of god the only thing I lost was my office, but all of that can and will be replaced.
Either way I got access to a friend’s computer so I thought I would start to get back on the ball with this blog. Before I begin with my new post I also want to say thank you again for all the support my readers have showed my wife and me after the loss of our dog Beawolf. All of you are the best and I’m lucky to have readers as great as all of you.
What Are Suggestibility Test?
So enough small talk let’s get down to the reason I’m writing this post. If you have any experience with hypnosis than you have more than likely heard of something we as Hypnotists call Suggestibility Test. For those of you who don’t know suggestibility test are basically techniques that some Hypnotists use to determine the level of a persons suggestibility.
Some of these suggestibility test include the following techniques:
- One hand rising while one hand is failing
- Lemon Slice and there are many other test out there.
- Magnetic Fingers
- Hand Clasp
These suggestibility test are taught pretty much in every hypnosis training course or school around and have pretty much become a standard in the hypnosis community. These test are used all over the world and the reason they are taught to us is because they are suppose to help us gauge if the person were working with will respond well to hypnotherapy. Thus we use them as tools to help us when working with clients.
Suggestibility Test Are Taught In Most Trainings
In the beginning I also learned about suggestibility test and was told these are the key to our success as Hypnotists. I was told that if a person fails one of these test that they would be an awful subject and if they passed they would be great subjects.
I bought into this whole idea of test designed to gauge the suggestibility of our clients. In the beginning I really thought this was a genius idea as it gave us a sure fire way to make sure we only work with people who can be hypnotized.
As many of you know I have been involved in the world of Hypnotism for quite some time and during that time I have learned a lot. I have learned from some of the greats and I have and still continue to study my ass off. Well, after many years of studying, working with clients and other things dealing with hypnotism I have come to one conclusion……
Suggestibility Test Don’t Test Suggestibility
Suggestibility Test DO NOT gauge the suggestibility of the people you are working with in any shape form or fashion and in most cases they are completely useless.
Okay, I have a feeling I’m going to start to receive some hate mail for this statement and if that makes you feel better than please feel free to leave your view in the comment below. In my opinion all a suggestibility test does is test how responsive the person you are working with is toward you at that very moment. If you want to disagree with me you have the right too, but my goal is to help you push your limits and expand the way you think about different techniques and concepts.
Now here is another problem with the term “Suggestibility Test” I have. This term uses the word “test” and the word test implies you can either pass or fail. Think about this for a moment, if you think about the word test I’m sure you may have flashbacks to a really hard test you took during high school or one that you passed or maybe even failed. This term may have been fine in the past when our knowledge of hypnosis was limited, but we have come a long way in our overall understanding of this field.
We know better than most people how words affect us and how our words affect our sessions. We are always fighting a uphill battle against fears and myths and the last thing we need when working with someone is the idea in their mind that they have failed something because we know when people believe they have failed something results go down the drain and good luck changing their minds.
We also know the way we view hypnosis and the way the client views you play a huge role in the overall hypnosis process. One of the mental laws I was taught by Gerald Kein which I have found to ring so true is the idea that what the mind expects tend to happens. So if a person believe they have failed or have a chance to fail you might as well just move on.
Over the years as I worked more and more with people in an office setting as well as street settings I began to notice something interesting. I would perform a so called suggestibility test and sometimes the person would fail and still end up being a great hypnotic subject. In other situations the person would pass and end up not being the greatest hypnosis subject.
So if they passed the suggestibility test and it’s suppose to test suggestibility than why didn’t they respond great to hypnosis. Some would say you have to consider other factors and I agree, but when all the factors are in order and tested over and over again this should tell you something. I get e-mails and talk to other hypnotists who also report the same thing.
All they do is help you determine how responsive they are to you at that moment, but the great thing about this is that how they view you and respond to you can change in an instant. I’m not saying knowing how responsive to you they are is a bad thing to know, but there are better ways than these suggestibility test.
So why are hypnosis organizations still teaching this outdated model of hypnosis? I wish I could answer that question, but I don’t have a clue why they still teach this model. Suggestibility test as they were being taught are outdated and it’s time we upgrade this technique.
Techniques For Hypnotist Who Still Use Suggestibility Test
Personally I have stopped using suggestibility test completely within my hypnosis practice. Now, I know some people still use suggestiblity test and if you still use them and find some purpose that’s fine, but let me give you a couple of suggestions to help you improve your results if you still use these test.
Btw, I do use suggestibility test as instant and rapid inductions and I’ll create another blog post about this soon, but I don’t use suggestibility test with clients anymore.
Now, if you do still use these techniques here are some little tricks and tips to help you overcome any issues that may pop up. First off, you need to learn how to reframe the suggestibility test. I prefer to drop the use of the word suggestibility and the word test. I recommend people call them imagination games or a imagination exerisce or something to that effect.
Basically I want to take the power out of the word “test”. The key here is to make sure the person you are working with believes that no matter what happens that they are a great subject. The concepts of belief and expectation are very powerful in the hypnosis world.
So the key here is to always frame these in a way where the person can’t fail, but can always win. Now a great point that my good friend Steve Roh brought up to me one day during a discussion at Tranced Out, which is my Free Hypnosis & NLP community mentioned:
“that you need to keep in mind that if the client accepts the frame that it’s just an “imagination exercise” that weak results may cause the hypnotist to pre-formulate a belief about the (in)ability of the client to succeed
(”Oh no, their hands aren’t separated widely enough… they’re not suggestible… this probably won’t work”), thus reducing hypnotist operator confidence, which isn’t good…… Steve Roh”
So you as the operator need to keep this concept in mind and know that if the person your working with fails one, who cares? It doesn’t matter and you just need to have the confidence to push forward.
Another thing to do is never even mention them at all and just have the person go straight into the routines. Once again, as hypnotists we have skills most people don’t know and since most people don’t know how hypnosis works this makes us the expert and gives us a amazing advantage.
It’s All About The Frame
So when working with someone always frame success from the get go and never leave a chance for your client or the person your working with to fail. If something doesn’t go like “you” think this doesn’t mean they failed. Everything is relative and since they don’t know they failed unless you told them or framed it in that way just say “perfect” and keep moving forward.
We have to keep asking ourselves over time what works and what doesn’t if we want our profession to grow. Just because something is being taught by the masses doesn’t mean we have to keep using it. I prefer not to use them in my practice as my client is paying me money to help them with a problem, not to have them make their hands stick.
Street Hypnosis or Stage Hypnosis
Now, if your into street hypnosis or stage hypnosis than maybe they serve a purpose in some context or form for you. Maybe you just want to show people the power of the mind to some small degree or just show people how the subconscious works at a party or something similar. I do use them in street hypnosis, but only as rapid inductions. I will take the start of a suggestibility test and than convert it right into a rapid induction.
Conclusion
Once again, this post is just my opinion from my experiences and the experiences of others in the hypnosis profession I talk to. If you still use them and find you get some type of benefit from them than continue to use them. There are many different roads that lead to the same destination.
Either way, the goal of this post is to just cause you to think about what we do a little bit more and decide for yourself if these so called “suggestibility test” are actually doing anything for your client and yourself.
_20091017121943.jpg)
28. March 2009 at 5:11 PM
Hi Josh
Great Article, with some interesting points and this is not hate mail(lol). I see suggestability tests as part of the hypnotic process if you like. The word ‘test’ is almost a way of reassuring people that I am not hypnotising you I am just seeing that you are in the right mind, when in reality the induction has already started. I think the word suggestability test should be replaced with “Hypnotic warm up”. I still use these test to warm people up, and to callaberate myself.
The same rules apply as with an inductio. If what you are doing isn’t working then it is for the hypnotist to change their approach rather than coping out and passing the responsibilty on to the individual being hypnotised, because the Hypnotist is just not flexible and skilled enough.
regards
Andy Mitchell
Your Hypnotist
29. March 2009 at 12:01 AM
Hey Andy,
Nice to see you here and thanks for the compliment. Now, I must give you a compliment on the term “Hypnotic Warm Up”. I really like that term as it doesn’t imply success or failure. I actually like that term better than imagination games.
I like how your reframe the suggestibility test to the fact that they are in the right state of mind and not a test. My problem with the term has always been, well the term suggestibility test and the theory that if the person fails they will be a bad subjects. I think you hit the nail on the head for anyone who does use them and as I stated in the article I still do, but not in an office setting as I use convincers instead, yet that is another story indeed.
Its all on how you use them and frame them for the subject.
I also agree that far too many hypnotist blame the subject, when in reality we are the professionals and should act so. If something does go wrong its out job to figure it out and adjust. The great thing is the subject never has to know if anything goes wrong.
Thanks for the commment Andy and look forward to more of your insight as well. The key to growing as a hypnotist and person is to never just learn one thing but to learn many things and take what you like from each one.
Josh
29. March 2009 at 5:12 PM
Josh
How true are you. Learn many things from many people with the whole idea of choosing what you like and in my opinion that’s personal development.
Really looking forward to any articles you publish on convincers (hint, hint).
Take care
Andy
5. April 2009 at 2:17 PM
‘Maybe you just want to show people the power of the mind to some small degree or just show people how the subconscious works at a party or something similar.’
Absolutely – and that’s why I still use them.
In fact, just last week I was with someone in a pub and they were semi-sceptical about hypnosis, but still a little interested. I used an imagination exercise (or what Anthony Jacquin calls a ’set piece) to get a foot in the door. Then, when they were pleasantly surprised by that, I used Elman to take them into hypnosis.
27. April 2009 at 12:14 PM
Josh: They way I learned it, suggestibility tests are designed as tricks. They are NOT really testing the suggestibility level of a subject, which is a big misconception.
The test (or trick) is designed so that it cannot fail when it is done properly. This causes the subject to believe he/she is a great hypnotic subject. This belief actually turns the subject in to a *better* subject.
FYI these are the self hypnosis CDs I use: Self Hypnosis
28. April 2009 at 8:21 AM
Hey Josh – at least nobody tried to teach you to use a suggestibility test during covert hypnosis. That would be a real joke. I actually saw a *really* bad video by another hypnotist who ranks very high in google … I won’t name him. The video was about using “covert suggestibility tests”. Unbelievable that he missed the whole point of the “test”, as described in the comment above.
6. September 2009 at 5:08 PM
Hi Josh,
Great article. As an NGH Instructor I teach the Suggestibility Tests because they can be great sources of information for the hypnotist. Like you, I’m not fond of the term. I do love “Hypnotic Warm ups” much much better. Thank you Andy!
30. September 2009 at 9:46 AM
I have worked in the mental health field for over 35 years and practice hypnotherapy with a wide range of clients. Suggestibility tests have never been a part of my clinical approach. I’ve found that providing informative input and clarifying any misconceptions about hypnosis typically suffices in laying a sufficient foundation on which to work.
For some individuals it seems that introduction of such suggestibility tests moves the experience toward the context of what they associate with stage or entertainment hypnosis and can, in some cases, create initial resistance.
29. October 2009 at 5:27 AM
I don’t do suggestibility exercises to learn anything about the subject. I do them as “convincers” to help the subject see that the likelyhood that the session will be a success is good.
Yes, it is a trick, but when a subject imagines a rubber band around their outstretched fingers, and those fingers slowly move together, they are convinced that they are suggestible, and that the session is likely to be a success.
As I commented in your pretalk article, it is all part of “stacking the deck” in favor of a successful session. Every single thing you can do to stack the deck in favor of a successful session should be used, if time permits, and a couple of suggestibility exercises increase the odds of success. Not to determine the suggestibility of the subject, but to show them clearly that the hypnosis session is likely to succeed.
1. February 2010 at 9:58 PM
I thought the suggestibility test was designed to gauge how suggestible the subject is(from high suggestibility to low suggestibility) rather than whether the subject is suggestible or not. The fact of the matter is, everyone is suggestible, it’s just that some people are more suggestible than others, which is context-dependent.
1. February 2010 at 11:10 PM
While I agree with Andy and Josh but since everyone is suggestible(operational presupposition), shouldn’t the suggestibility test be about gauging how suggestible the subject is (high suggestibility or low suggestibility) rather than whether the subject is suggestible or not?