The first suggestion on the list would be ineffective during the actual hypnotherapy session because it is flawed. This suggestion says: “The noise outside does not disturb you. It does not disturb you in any way…”. It breaks the Law of Reverse Effect. The suggestion focuses on the client’s attention to the negative impact, such as noise outside. The desired effect is calmness, concentration, and disengagement from the external distractions.
Mentioning the noise, the suggestion creates a reverse effect and drives the client’s attention towards it. The improved version of the suggestion is: “As you allow yourself to relax more and more, you start to feel how your body fills itself with quietness and peace, you enjoy the silence of your mind, this serene and peaceful sensation.” Excluding negative language, I help the client to focus on the positive outcome and the desired result. Using an additional description of the desired peaceful state of mind, I paint a detailed picture of the positive outcome in order to help the client reach it successfully.
The second suggestion is likely to be ineffective due to its contradictive nature. It is not well-designed and may confuse a client’s mind and imagination. The suggestion says: “Relaxation is oozing through your body. It is hopping from your head to your feet…”. First of all, trying to create a positive image for the client to relax a practitioner is to guide them through a specific and detailed chain of suggestions.
The first part of the example suggestion says that relaxation is “oozing,” and the second one uses the verb “hopping,” which contradicts each other. Besides, in my opinion, the verb “oozing” has a negative character and is likely to be associated with unpleasant images. My version of this affirmation is: “Relaxation is flowing through your body. It is slowly and steadily streaming from the tips of your toes, ankles, hips, pelvis, stomach, chest, neck to your head”. The relaxation is to move upwards and affect the client’s head last. Besides, using more homogeneous words in my affirmation, I create a stable effect. The desired goal is to achieve calm relaxation; this is why it would be better to avoid exciting and energetic words such as “hopping” to maintain the needed effect.
The third suggestion is: “The music in the background is the signal for you to relax. You relax when you hear this music, and you feel as if you could sleep. You will have no trouble sleeping; the music is your signal to sleep. Now you will come back to full consciousness when I count from 1-10…”. First of all, it employs a negative phrase “you will have no trouble sleeping.” This part should be replaced. Besides, it employs the verb “will,” which is better to avoid because the affirmation needs to imply that the change is happening in the present.
The improved version of this suggestion is: “The music in the background is the signal for you to relax. As soon as you hear the music, you immediately start to relax and feel ready to go to a peaceful and pleasant sleep. Your sleep comes naturally and softly, embracing you. The music is your signal to sleep. Now you will come back to full consciousness as I count from one to ten”. I replaced the negative phrase with positive, added some details for a better positive effect.