Homework and Hypnosis

Homework and Hypnosis
by Rita Ballard Chehalis, WA

A more accurate description of hypnosis would be to call it a heightened state of relaxation. The hypnotist simply says words that allow you to become more relaxed than usual. Not everyone falls asleep under hypnosis. Trance-like conditions can occur, if the situation calls for a very deep relaxation to be induced. But the average person visiting a hypnotist would not need to be comatose. They only need to be relaxed.

In the usual hypnosis session, the client is sitting in a chair. A series of suggestions are made to help the client gradually become more and more relaxed. Once the desired level of relaxation is reached, the hypnotist can then talk to the client and the client can answer when/if necessary. The hypnotist can make suggestions for change in ways that support the client’s values. The hypnotist does NOT put thoughts into the client’s head. Using previous conversations between client and hypnotist, suggestions are given that can be used and assimilated by the client. According to the late Dr. Milton Erickson, “…the hypnotic technique serves only to induce a favorable setting in which to instruct the patient in a more advantageous use of his own potentials of behavior.”

The use of hypnotic techniques can be very valuable in today’s families. Parents can easily make certain suggestions to their children in the form of normal conversations. For example, suppose the child is not doing homework. The natural consequences occur: child gets a bad grade in the class, teacher calls parent in for a conference, parent and child have a heated discussion over homework, child becomes angry/sullen/withdrawn. Homework still does not get done. Now suppose that the parent replaces the heated discussion with randomly made statements over a period of time, such as “I see that you’re really trying to get done on time.” “Notice how much better you’re feeling.” “Before you know it, you’ll have that grade up and you’ll be feeling much better about it.” These are all suggestions that don’t put any pressure on the child. They just suggest that the child IS doing the homework, and IS feeling better. Pretty soon, the child also will assume that it is true, and will make it so.

Making random, seemingly unrelated statements leads the listener to make sense of it and draw their own conclusions. This is done on a subconscious, subjective level. Saying things like “Some people finish things before they need to” can subconsciously translate as “I (some people) can finish my homework (finish things) on time (before they need to).”

The greatest thing about the subconscious mind is that it believes whatever you tell it. Therefore, if you are making statements that assume that the child is successful at completing homework, the child’s subconscious will make it true.

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