Framing (and Suggesting) “Suggestibility” by Sleepingirl

Hi, and surprise! I’ve been working on this piece to submit to projectMSMR’s upcoming hypnosis zine and wanted to make sure it was available for y’all here :) It’s partially Frankenstein’d from bits in a few of my other articles, but mostly new written material and presented I think in a much more logical way to get across this one cool thing. Enjoy!

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Framing (and Suggesting) “Suggestibility” by Sleepingirl

Giving effective suggestions is the art at the core of doing hypnosis, an art that can fill thousands of pages and years worth of study and experience. Suggestions not only create the phenomena we often associate with them, but also drive trance (“inductions” are composed of suggestions that induce trance) and its quality of experience.

A romanticized topic in hypnosis is the idea that trance itself heightens or creates “suggestibility.” The reality is that it doesn’t do so linearly -- “trance” is not a singular state with objective qualities, and “suggestibility” is far too complex to be boiled down to one attribute that governs how someone responds.

However, there are ways that we can create a space where someone is more suggestible -- if we take a more detailed look at what that means, and give suggestions to allow for those kinds of effects.

One method to do this is to frame or contextualize our trances. For example, there can be a drastic difference between saying, “Now that you’re hypnotized, I want you to visualize yourself stripping naked” versus leading with some framing: “Now that you’re hypnotized, in a place that allows your mind to be more visually creative…” Essentially, we want to tell our partners: “You’re in a situation where you can respond.”

Here are a few little ideas to spark inspiration for that -- with help from Milton Erickson.

Suggestibility as a Framing

We should start by taking a look into what suggestibility isn’t -- and what it might actually be. Here are some things we know to start off with:

• A person’s response to hypnosis can’t be graded on a linear scale, or attributed to some sort of singular aspect/value/quality
• People can have profound responses to suggestion outside of “deep” trance (or any trance)
• It is not reliable to say that one “category” of suggestion is objectively easier or harder than another
• Response to suggestion depends mostly on how well the suggestion is framed, given, progressed towards, how much it makes sense, etc

On the other hand, we can posit about what this experience might be. “Greater suggestibility” might include things like:

• Faster response/preconscious responses
• Feeling more intense responses
• Responding with less/no effort on the part of the subject
• Feeling responses dissociated from conscious action
• Responding to suggestions given with less “help” or “skill” on the part of the hypnotist
• Faster belief in responses/suspension of disbelief
• Unconscious (spontaneous) responses
• ???

It matters a lot to not reduce these concepts to a single word, because they do not necessarily come as a package deal -- nor do they necessarily come as a result of trance on its own. It is much more effective to elicit them when you understand what they are and can make suggestions that directly affect them. (There is an enormous conversation to be had about ways to suggest these aspects of experience -- think about things that go beyond the scope of this article!)

If we think of trance as varying changes in someone’s psychological experience, we can acknowledge, take advantage of, and suggest those changes in a way that does make it easier to respond to the suggestions we give. For example, we could tell someone that being hypnotized can allow them to notice more nuance about their own responses -- and that increased awareness can make the responses feel stronger. In this way, we can effectively frame trance as a space where someone is more “suggestible” -- especially if we tailor it cleverly.

So taking this knowledge to heart, how do we frame or contextualize trance as a place where these are accessible?

We want to loosely follow three principles when making these suggestions: be realistic enough, reasonable enough, and ambiguous enough. We want to say things that are true to our understanding of hypnosis, aren’t far-fetched to our partners, and are open-ended at least a little bit to allow for the natural dynamic nature of trance experience (and not create a pass/fail situation).

For example, it’s unrealistic, unreasonable, and unambiguous to say something like: “Now that you’re hypnotized, you’re going to respond perfectly to all of my suggestions.” It’s more realistic, reasonable, and ambiguous to say something like: “Now that you’re falling deeper in trance, you can understand how being altered in this way opens you up to capabilities that can affect the way that you respond to suggestions.”

Ericksonian “Truisms”

Milton Erickson’s model of hypnosis extends far beyond the use of storytelling and indirect language patterns that he’s most well-known for. One technique that we can take from him is his concept of “truisms.” Truisms in Erickson’s model are statements that are verifiably true, used for the purpose of suggesting something. But there is nuance to this that makes it well-suited for the kinds of framings we want to create to allow a partner to respond.

To explain, let’s look at some examples:

• Conversations influence people
• Changes of perspective equate to changes in capabilities and experience
• People are familiar with recalling and feeling sensory experiences
• People daydream
• People easily lose parts of memories without intending it
• It’s easy to shift focus from one place to another
• People know and are capable of more things than they/you are aware of at any given time
• People process various things consciously and unconsciously at the same time
• People are not aware of unconscious mechanisms

Some of these might be familiar, as a few of them are commonly baked into hypnotic patter. Notice that all of these open up opportunities to “hitchhike” suggestions in -- “Conversations influence people, thus you can be aware of how you’re allowing yourself to be influenced into submitting to my words.” But also we should acknowledge that all of these stand on their own as more indirect suggestions; if you simply talk to someone about how people are constantly changed by the conversations they have, they might come to that unspoken conclusion -- and maybe even have responses that neither of you could directly anticipate or suggest. (This is one example of truly indirect suggestion in an Ericksonian style.)

Suggestibility Truisms

This is a very limited look into just one application/method of Erickson’s truisms (go read Hypnotic Realities!), but it is enough to get us started thinking about how we might use this concept to suggest concrete aspects of suggestibility.

We need to think about what context actually creates those outlined results of “suggestibility” that we want to allow for. What makes someone feel like they are in an environment where they can respond faster, with less effort, and more unconsciously? How do we suggestively point out the ways that trance can facilitate this?

One element in this is letting someone know that trance is a space where things can happen differently from their normal “reality.” This too is an important Ericksonian idea -- once a person notices that they’re “not in Kansas anymore,” it opens them up to new capabilities. They aren’t bound by the rules they expect of being “awake” -- and in fact, letting go of those expectations is a key part of achieving the kinds of suggestibility we’re talking about.

Let’s look at some examples of what we might say along these lines:

• “Hypnosis allows your mind to be creative in ways that you can’t always anticipate”
• “You don’t have to do anything or exert effort to simply respond to what I’m saying while you’re hypnotized”
• “As you go deeper, you become more aware of some unconscious mechanisms and thoughts, and less aware of others”
• “Your perspective and process are changing as I hypnotize you, which means that your capabilities are shifting as well”
• “Trance is a space where things happen a little differently from when you are awake”
• “In trance, your responses can start to change in speed and intensity”
• “The processes that happen consciously when you’re awake begin to separate themselves from your conscious awareness in trance”

Sometimes you may want to follow these truisms with some kind of convincing proof or explanation. Think about what makes these kinds of statements true in the first place -- think about the process and effects of hypnosis, and the mental process of your partner. For example: “Hypnosis allows your mind to be creative in ways that you can’t always anticipate: You don’t know how you’re going to respond to every passing word; you can’t anticipate what your mind is going to do or what it’s doing outside of your conscious awareness. You don’t know how it will be different in trance.”

This is generally a great way to create progressive suggestions that lead into big suggestibility changes. By continuing along this thread, perhaps talking about how someone’s mind might be “creative” in trance, you create a chunk of patter/hypnosis that reinforces what you’ve done so far, what you’re doing in the moment of these suggestions, and any suggestions that you may give afterwards.

Suggestion Framing

We can use these same ideas to make our suggestions more accessible too -- specifically instead of relying on a broad lens. We are familiar with doing this; we might often say something like, “People forget things all the time” in order to make suggested amnesia feel more achievable.

Essentially, when we create these kinds of truisms, we could be talking about several things:

• Identity: “You are someone who can respond to this”
• Ability: “You have the specific capability to experience this”
• Context: “You’re in a situation that makes this easy for you”

Suggestions may be about a change in sensory response, thought process or belief, behavioral patterns, persona, or something else. In each case, as you think about what your suggestion is doing, think about how you could “cheat” to change your partner’s experience of that.

Let’s look at examples of changing this framing with truisms (this time, following with some suggested phenomena):

Identity:

• “You’re such an excellent subject; it’s so easy for you to drop deeper for me”
• “You’re so orally fixated; just thinking about your lips parting open sends tingles through your body and brain”
• “You crave control so deeply; your brain molds itself more and more perfectly to my suggestions”
• “You’re so responsive to touch; you can feel such a strong emotional response to even just imagining my fingers on your skin”

Ability:

• “You are so good at fixating on the things that drive you; my voice is one of those things, making it so effortless to pay attention to”
• “Your mind has the capability to dream and daydream, to make fantasies more and more appealing and vivid to you in just the right way”
• “Your brain is so good at squeezing the pleasure out of you when you masturbate; now even just the barest suggestions of pleasure turn you on so much”
• “You’re so good at drifting into a different state, even without noticing all the ways that you’re relaxing”

Context:

• “Being hypnotized allows your mind to absorb things in a different way; all this conditioning sinks in faster and deeper than you’re used to when you’re awake”
• “Repeating that mantra takes up part of your conscious and unconscious thoughts, making it easier for your mind to begin to blank everything else out”
• “You’re in a trance that has made you do so many creative things unconsciously; your mind starts feeding you erotic thoughts now, over and over”
• “The stillness of your body is so reminiscent of what it would be like to be a quiet, patient little dolly”

Essentially, you’re using truisms to provide a little boost of reasoning and explanation to why your suggestions will be effective. When you give suggestions that are true to someone’s understanding of their experience, they inwardly have this little moment of agreement and acceptance.

This overlaps with how we consider concepts like “yes sets” and “pacing and leading” -- techniques where we rely on eliciting this agreement in order to make our later suggestions feel more realistic. Often we think that these kinds of suggestions need to be observable or external (“You’re relaxing into your chair”), but it can be very effective when we remark on less tangible things such as someone’s self-perception or perceived capabilities. Use what you know about your partner (and hypnosis) to build these and other truisms!

In Closing

How to suggest that someone becomes more suggestible is a rich and nuanced topic that goes far beyond the few ideas in this article. And additionally, the techniques we talk about here have uses in all kinds of other hypnotic applications. Getting into Ericksonian hypnosis and indirect suggestion can be very exciting -- and intense. Much of how to do this is reliant upon how well you can understand and break down concepts that we take for granted in hypnosis, such as suggestibility itself.

You’re encouraged to ask yourself questions like, “What does suggestibility mean, practically? What is actually happening inside someone’s head when I say this thing? How can I make my suggestions as easy to respond to as possible, and what does that even mean?” These are the kinds of explorations that will lead you to really effective and fulfilling hypnosis.

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Sleepingirl (they/she) is an educator and jack-of-all-trades with a lifelong passion for erotic hypnosis. They’re the author of several books including “THE BRAINWASHING BOOK” and “KINKY NLP,” co-host of the Two Hyp Chicks Podcast, creator of hypnotic games, and way too much more. See their work at: sleepingirl.carrd.co, and learn the foundations of erotic hypnosis at: LearnHypnokink.com