International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis - E-Lib FK UWKS

INJUNCTIVE COMMUNICATION 87
Table 6.1 The early learning set induction
Indicative level Injunctive level
1. Erickson looks to the ¯oor, softens his
voice, and slows his tempo.
1. Go into trance!
2. `I am going to remind you of something
that happened a long time ago ...'
2. Remember!
3. `...when you ®rst learned to write the 3. Hypnosis may seem dif®cult at ®rst, but it
letters of the alphabet, it was an awfully
dif®cult task ...'
will become second nature!
4. `Did you dot the ``t'' and cross the ``i''?' 4. Be confused!
5. `Howmany bumps are there in an ``n'' 5. Be absorbed in the memory! The order of
and an ``m''?'
things may be unexpected and confusing!
6. `Although you didn't realize it, slowly 6. You will have permanent unconscious
and gradually you formed mental images learnings as a result of this experience!
of those letters that were stored
somewhere in your brain cells and stored
there permanently.'
Visualize!
7. `And while I have been talking with you,
your pulse rate has changed, your blood
pressure has changed, your motor tone
has changed ...'
7. You are responding correctly! You are
demonstrating hypnotic patterns!
elegantly changed the injunction from `Remember!' to `Be absorbed in memory!'
This was accomplished by the subtle shift in tense from past to present. Initially, he
talked about the past, for example `It was a dif®cult task' and `Did you dot the
``t'' ...?' Abruptly, he began speaking in the present, `Howmany bumps are
there ...?' as if the patient were reliving the childhood learning process. Subsequent
injunctions covertly remind the patient that hypnotic learning can be gradual
but permanent in a manner similar to learning to write. The patient is also
encouraged to develop visual images.
Next, Erickson rati®ed the occurrence of physiological changes, thereby con-
®rming the patient's ability to experience trance and hypnotic effects. Rati®cation
is the process of re¯ecting back in simple declarative sentences the changes that
occur as the patient becomes absorbed in the induction, for example, `While I've
been talking to you your pulse rate has changed ...' The injunction to the patient is
`You're responding!,' `You're responding correctly!,' `You are demonstrating hypnotic
patterns!'
Please note that the above injunctions are deliberately written with exclamation
points rather than as statements or questions. By their very nature, injunctions are
subtle imperatives. The deliberate use of injunctions parallels the patient complaint,
because patients customarily tell their stories to therapists with both overt