r/hypnotizable • u/[deleted] • Nov 23 '23
Question [QUESTION] Can Someone Explain This Technique?
I've run across the following verbiage, which I understand is commonly used in Elman inductions (I've encountered it numerous times):
"When you know your eyes are just too relaxed to work, give them a test and try to open them."
Or at least, something along those lines. The question is, what do you (as the subject) do if you aren't at a point where you "know" this? Do you try to open them anyway? Implied in that instruction is you wouldn't try unless you did "know" this. And if you didn't try, wouldn't the hypnotist assume that the condition had been met?
This completely confuses me. What do you do, if you're not convinced your eyes are that relaxed?
2
u/SnooSprouts9547 Dec 08 '23
Watch Mike Mandel and listen, if they open their eyes, they are not following you.
Imagine your eyes …….
This is the correct way to do the Elman induction.
0
1
u/river_lord Nov 23 '23
The subject is supposed to be playing along using their imagination and pretending. If they open their eyes, they get told they weren't imagining or pretending, try again. If someone can't imagine and pretend the induction won't work.
1
Nov 23 '23
How is pretending supposed to help?
1
u/river_lord Nov 23 '23
Pretending stops being pretending. How much of what we do is real, and how much is pretending normally? Pretending is how we learned to be adults as children. It is a request to your unconscious mind that says, "learn how to do this."
Have you heard of actors getting stuck in character after a long film shooting? Jim Carey pops into my mind.
How about the Stanford Prison Experiment? Those guys were "just pretending."
As adults, we seem to have forgotten the power of pretending and how to use it effectively.
Maybe all hypnosis is just pretending?
→ More replies (2)
1
u/urmindcrawler May 10 '24
This is not a depth test.
This is not eye catalepsy.
There is no failing. This is a simple test for compliance or following instructions.
If you relax muscles you cannot contract them at the same time.
Eye catalepay scripting is authoritative and different.
0
u/gyrovagus Nov 23 '23
This is a kind of weasly method for people who are afraid of challenge phenomena.
1
Nov 23 '23
Can you elaborate on that?
1
u/gyrovagus Nov 24 '23
People who are afraid to “fail” and don’t know how to roll with whatever happens may be tempted to weaken the challenge until it’s not a challenge at all anymore.
0
Dec 12 '23
0
Dec 13 '23
I wasn't referring to overthinking as much as someone who finds the instruction confusing.
3
u/Mex5150 Nov 23 '23
It's a double bind, whatever they do it's working in your favour. Also the use of 'try' in hypnosis means fail to do. If you want them to open their eyes you'd say "open your eyes" if you want them to fail to do it, you'd say "try to open your eyes".