If we ask a client, a friend, or if you're interested to try yourself, to continue doing whatever they are doing – it might be looking at you, looking out the window, noticing their own breathing, listening to some music – whatever it is that they happen to be doing, and then, as they continue doing that, to invite them to have a natural focus and then, as a natural consequence, to allow an increased absorption, all this happening naturally and easily. 

If we then observe the client’s obvious physiological changes that accompany any experience of focused absorption, then we can comment on these: the slowing of their breathing, their eyelids blinking differently, smoothing out of their face, relative stillness, etc. … Commenting on these helps to enhance these changes as natural. 

Since a client is already doing what they're doing, there is no need to have the question of whether they can or not, given that they're already doing it. And since the focus and absorption is a natural consequence, the whole process tends to be smooth, easy and respectful. We’re not suggesting anything; merely inviting such a client into their own individual experience, into their own individual way of focusing, their own individual experience of becoming absorbed and, as such, because it is an experience with focus and absorption, we can then call this hypnosis. 

Some clients will come asking specifically for hypnosis. So it will be important to be explicit and say, “This is what we mean by hypnosis.” If we don’t do that, they’ll be dissatisfied. On the other hand, if someone don’t like the idea of hypnosis, we don’t need to mention the H-word. We can simply invite an experience, focus and absorption and we can do this with total integrity because we’re not pretending that it’s not hypnosis. We’re not trying to con someone into having hypnosis when they don’t realise because, in this approach, we are saying that hypnosis is only hypnosis when it’s mutually agreed to be hypnosis.

Rob