The Power of Utilization in Hypnosis and Change Work
I began discovering the mysteries and power of Hypnosis for healing, learning and change during my NLP Practitioner Training. It all started very smoothly, with the work of Dr. Milton Erickson, one of the good guys in Hypnotherapy, with his mild, indirect-permissive approach to clients.
I got fascinated by how easily one could access a state of light-to-medium trance, by bizarre phenomena as arm levitation or full body catalepsy, later on, during the Master Practitioner Training. Everything was carefully guided, scripts for every process, following instructions and getting predictable outcomes. For those of you who took the trainings, you know how that works.
It wasn’t until a recent personal experience that I discovered the power of utilization and using hypnotic language conversationally and intuitively. I had almost forgotten about it, as it probably became one of those unconscious abilities installed during the trainings.
But until telling you how that worked, let’s see, What is Utilization?
Earlier hypnotherapists, including Milton Erickson in his early days – would say to people ˜uncross your legs, put your hands on the thighs, take a deep breath, go into a trance.’ Later on though, Erickson learned by experience to direct trance less and less and allow what would happen to happen. This is utilization: paying attention to everything the client does and says and incorporating it into the conversation to get results.
How Can You Apply It in Your Life?
I was exhausted after several weeks of working on making a goal happen. The cortisol levels in my body were probably over the top, I wasn’t having enough good quality sleep and I was in huge stress. I couldn’t find any effective way of recharging my batteries or calming down. The automatic pilot had taken over my life and I wasn’t even aware of that. I was blindly pushing forward towards that goal. And it didn’t work. It just didn’t. I bet that’s never happened to you. 🙂
The learning’s in that experience are not the purpose of this article. What I want to share with you is how I’ve been walked through the point of breakdown.
The situation had been somehow sorted out. I was a couple of hours in the process of making peace with the fact that I had messed up. And I was being exquisitely unsuccessful at it. I wouldn’t give myself any break, I wouldn’t cut the endless train of thoughts and feelings. My mind was foggy and confused, I was unable to see anything forward, I was burnt out and stuck with no options. So much so that my body began to act that out for me too.
Slowly but surely, I was getting sick. I started feeling horribly weak in my legs and then throughout my whole body, I was cold, my head was in huge pain and breathing was getting more and more difficult. I felt like I couldn’t get enough oxygen and my head was like tightly-tightly squeezed in a vise. I hopelessly collapsed on the bed, only wishing to be able to fully breathe again. Here’s where the NLP, Hypnosis and Coaching tools can make a huge difference and assist you in finding resolution quickly.
My boyfriend, who was a Master Practitioner at that time, happened to be there with me and stepped in. He asked me to describe exactly what I felt. “I’m suffocating. It’s like I’m floating inside an inflatable transparent cube. I can see everything beautiful outside, only that I’m lost inside this cube. I have no stability and I’m running out of oxygen, inside.”
For some reason, my unconscious mind gave me this very powerful internal representation that he could utilize in order to help me connect to resources that I was separated from.
˜Ok’, he said. ˜Get out of the cube.’
˜I can’t, I have no point of balance, I’m inside the cube and the cube is randomly floating in the air.’
He kept utilizing and adapting to what I was saying: ˜Ok, I am right there and I bring that cube down on the ground. Can you feel that?’
˜Yes, sort of.’, I said, focused on whether I was feeling it or not, while my unconscious mind was already taking in the suggestion that the cube goes down to the ground and I find an equilibrium point.
“Now, as you start feeling the ground beneath your feet, feel stable and imagine this light in your solar plexus, In a moment you, will inhale, that’s right, and the light will gather in your solar plexus and will begin to radiate,”
My conscious mind knew what he was doing and somehow was resisting the process but the unconscious mind was irresistibly responding. My breathing rate was normalizing. And he was going on with the suggestions:
“As your solar plexus radiates that light, with every breath you take, you calm down and feel the heat and the light radiating to the edge of the cube, and melting down the edge of the cube until it completely disappears, right now, and the fresh air outside starts to fill your lungs as you realize that this light in your solar plexus also makes you feel powerful,” I could finally breathe properly. “Thaaaat’s right,”
He kept giving me suggestions until my body warmed up. I could feel my face getting brighter, my breathing deepening and my headache going away.
20 minutes later, when I opened my eyes, I was like a newborn. The energy had come back to my body, my mind had calmed down and the clarity was making its way back to me.
I had a good sleep that night and the next day I was ready to turn the page, set a new goal and move on. Without these resources, it would have probably taken ages to get back on track.
Utilize everything, as Erickson would say, and turn each situation to your advantage. You have infinite possibilities at the unconscious level!
 | About the Author: Camelia Păduraru With a background in Communication, Marketing, and Public Relations, Camelia Păduraru has always been fascinated with the human mind and what leads individuals to do what they do. Certified Trainer of NLP, Hypnosis and Coaching and a Master Trainer of Time Line Therapy®, she now delivers these transformative tools in Romania, empowering people to take control of their lives and tap into their full potential. As a founder of Crafting Minds, she provides coaching sessions and accelerated certification trainings to assist people in freeing their minds, taking action, healing and producing exquisite results life. She is keen on creating a community of leaders that make a difference in the world. If you want to learn more about Camelia, go here. |