Ambiguity in Hypnosis

Ambiguous messages are a hypnotists dream when they are learned and practiced correctly.  First let’s define these words and messages.  There are a vast amount of words in the English language that will have several different meanings or definitions to them.  And as you become aware of them you will be able to create a bank of words that can be used in this manner.

Ambiguous messages are simply these words put into a context that will deliver a suggestion or message to the person you are speaking to. 

Ambiguous words, which have different meanings, will be used in your practice as a hypnotist.  Before you can do this you must find the words, know the different meanings and be able to use them in the correct contexts.  Different words will mean different things to people depending on where you are and the nature of the language. 

A good and common example of an ambiguous word is the word right.  Right can refer to a position of an object or person.  It can also mean you were correct in answering a question.  It is a casual word we use everyday whether we are putting on our right shoe or whether she was right to wait longer for the bus.

The ways in which words similar to the word ‘right’ work within our minds is important here.  When you hear a statement with an ambiguous word in it the unconscious mind will extract that word in turn and analyze all the different connotations and meaning it can have for that particular person.  It then narrows down the field and choose the definition that makes the most sense dependant on the context and circumstance of the statement.

This simple trick of using words with different meanings will give you a wide range of levels you can work with a person on.  As you will learn later you will be able to communicate on multiple planes with words that are ambiguous.  You will learn to embed them into suggestions so that what your conversation is based on may not be the actual message their unconscious is receiving.

Ambiguous messages will do two very interesting and complicated things for you as a hypnotist.  It will first require the conscious and unconscious minds a choice.  The conscious mind will hear one message and the unconscious mind will be very busy deciphering and filing away the other possibilities. 

This alone will cause the second thing to happen which will be that you will begin to communicate on different levels and the listener will unconsciously be keeping up with multiple messages embedded into their meanings.

When learning to use ambiguous messages it is important that you pay attention to setting up the scene or context in which you are going to be using these words.  If you do not and the meanings are interpreted differently that you are expecting a completely messy situation can occur.  You will think you are sending a specific hidden message and really they will get what may seem like nonsense to them.

Ways you can prepare or set up the context for using ambiguous messages and words is to do some seeding of ideas to build up to the correct interpretations.  Another way for preparing is to embed the information in the person before you start in with your multiple meaning words.

Using ambiguous words and messages are usually done in a story.  You will tell a story that can be completely off subject as long as the pre-seeded ambiguous word is involved you will be able to plant your suggestions.

 Let’s say you are in sessions with someone for a fear of being in tight spaces; or otherwise known as claustrophobia.  If you tell a story about space and being in outer space, you can drop in lines that talk about how comfortable space was, maybe even serene, quiet and dark yet peaceful, not confining or alarming. 

These are comfortable words and ideas that the unconscious will begin to relate to the other meaning of space for them; the idea of claustrophobia and a fear of tight spaces.
The unconscious will pick up on the idea that space is okay, comfortable, not alarming, and peaceful. 

Now don’t be alarmed it this all sounds very complicated and confusing to you, especially having not practiced it.  The truth is this is a very sophisticated concept and understanding it can take time.  It is however just the beginning of multiple layered effects, their meanings and how they can all occur simultaneously.  It is a common occurrence and just becoming aware of it will be a good step.

If you really want to study this further, and you should, you can see this concept happening in many of the various plays by Shakespeare, who was very skilled at layering meanings of different levels into his plays.  They are not too hard to pick up on and will give you some further examples of how this is done and the effect it can have on people. 

 

 

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