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31 Hypnosis Techniques (The Most Comprehensive List)

Hypnotic Inductions
The first step of hypnosis, a hypnotic induction is the process that a hypnotist uses to put the
client into a state where they are more open to suggestion (known as trance). There are many
types of inductions.

1. Relaxation technique

Why do therapists ask to “make yourself comfortable” and provide a cushy leather couch to lay
down on? It’s more than a common courtesy. Relaxation is a common method used by
therapists and a beginner hypnosis technique. If the client is relaxed, they may fall into trance
and the mind is open to suggestion. They are more likely to talk to you and be open to indirect
suggestions. Here are some common methods of relaxation:

Make yourself comfortable

Lay down
 Count down in your head
Controlled breathing
Relax & tense muscles
Speak in a soft tone

2. Handshake technique

Milton Erickson – the father of hypnotherapy – is

famous for using the handshake technique as a way
to induce hypnotic trance. Handshakes are the most
common form of greetings in our society. The
handshake technique shocks the subconscious by
disrupting this common social norm. Instead of
shaking the hand normally, the hypnotist would
interrupt the pattern that our mind has established
by grabbing the wrist or pulling the subject forward
and off balance. With the pattern interrupted, the subconscious mind is suddenly open to
suggestion.

3. Eye Cues

There are two spheres of the brain – the right manages the more “creative” and conscious side
and the left the “practical” and subconscious. In any conversation we look for feedback from
the listener to see how they react to our statements. Watch the subject’s eyes. Are they looking
to the right, accessing the conscious or the left to the subconscious? Are they fixated on one
object in the room? If they are accessing the subconscious, you can make a suggestion that
they are not consciously aware of.

Advanced Tip: Insertive Eye Contact

Reading the eye movements of a listener is a common use case. But did you know that as the
speaker, you can also perform a hypnotic induction on the the listener with your eye
movements? This new technique was developed and tested by Stephen Brooks.

Watch this video on insertive eye contact to learn how.

4. Visualization

Visualization can be used both to induce trance and to make suggestions. For example, ask
your subject to recall a room they are very familiar with. Imagine every detail in that room: the
floor, the shape of the windows, the painting on the wall, the smell, the light. Then, move onto
a room they are less familiar with. As they struggle to
recall the exact details they open the mind to
suggestion.

Advanced Tip: Use visualization to recall positive

memories and associate them with a rewarding
behavior, or to change one’s perception of a negative
image.

Positive images and experiences (wedding, kid,

birthday, graduation)
Discard bad images (maybe throw them in the trash)

5. Arm “Levitation” Technique

With this classic Ericksonian technique, the client begins by closing their eyes. They are asked to
notice the difference in feeling between their arms. The hypnotherapist makes suggestions as
to the sensations in each arm. For example they might say the arm feels heavy or light, hot or
cold. The client enters a trance and may physically lift their arm or they make simply believe in
their mind that they have lifted the arm. Either way, the induction was successful.

Advanced Tip: How To Hypnotize A Client With Arm Levitation

6. Sudden Shock/Falling backwards

Proceed with caution! Similar to the handshake technique, a subject finding themselves
shocked can enter into a trance. I would never advocate causing any physical pain to a subject,
but Erickson once demonstrated this by stepping on a woman’s foot and following it with a
suggestion. A milder version would be the “trust falls” that you may have heard of or
participated in at a team building event. The sensation of falling backwards shocks the system
and opens the mind to suggestion, however, one must be certain they will not drop the subject.

7. Eye Fixation

Have you ever found yourself “zoning out” and

staring at an interesting item in the room while
someone is talking? Did you completely miss what
they’ve said? You may have been in a trance.

Any object of focus can be used to induce trance.

The most famous examples are the “power
pendulum” or a “swinging pocket watch” – although
these two objects are now associated with hokey
stage hypnosis. You’re more likely to fail and encounter resistance using these objects, due to
their reputation.

Nonetheless, there are two secrets behind eye fixation. First, the object keeps the conscious
mind occupied, opening the subconscious to suggestion. Secondly, your eyes get physically
tired when they fixate or move back and forth.

Example: Try looking up at ceiling for a few minutes (without bending your neck). The eyes
naturally tire and begin to close.

8. Bodyscan

A popular method for self-hypnosis. Starting at the top of the body with your eyes closed, scan
down slowly from the head to the feet. Notice every sensation – your breath expanding the
ribcage, chair on your back, the pain in your elbow, each finger extended, the feet on the
ground. Repeat the process from bottom to top. Continue scanning up and down until you
enter trance.

Advanced Tip: The body scan can be stacked with other hypnosis induction techniques such as
countdown breathing and relaxation to increase effectiveness.

9. Countdown Breathing

You may have heard of controlled breathing for meditation, but it can also an easy form of self-
hypnosis. Here’s how it works:

Close your eyes and sit upright in a chair, arms on your lap.
Breathe deep through the nose and out through the mouth.
Using slow controlled breaths, countdown from 100.
Each exhale counts as one interval.
At the end you may be in a trance. If not continue the exercise counting down from a
higher number.

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Hypnotic Suggestions
A suggestion is the desired behavior to be performed by the client. Post-hypnotic suggestions
are delivered after a hypnotized person enters trance – a state in which they are more open to
influence. There are two schools of thought for suggestions.

10. Indirect Suggestion

Erickson was a champion of indirect suggestion. It

is a favorite of certified hypnotherapists because
this method puts the control in the subject’s hands
rather than those of authoritarian – respecting the
patient’s boundaries and clinical ethics. Further it
has proven more effective for subjects that are
resistant or skeptical of trance. Rather than “order”
a subject to relax (direct suggestion), one could say:

Photo by Amanda
“You might wish to close your eyes, when you are
comfortable.”

Learn more about Ericksonian Hypnosis

11. Direct Suggestion

In conversational hypnosis, a direct suggestion is an explicit command to perform a certain

action. Though powerful, it is sometimes viewed as unethical because as the authority (a doctor
or hypnotist) you hold power over the client. The client does not control the decision to change
behavior with this method. The Stanford Prison Experiment was an infamous example of using
authority, obedience, and direct suggestions to manipulate subjects.

Here are some classic direct suggestions:

“You will go to sleep”

“You will stop smoking”
“You will lose weight”
 12. Voice Tone

The tone of your voice is particularly useful when making suggestions. This can double up with
other techniques (like relaxation).

“You might wish to become relaxed”

In the above example, the word “relaxed” is spoken softly and elongated. On the contrary, you
can make a direct suggestion loudly.

“You will STOP smoking!”

Another perfect pair for voice tone is the confusion technique. The therapist could vary the
tone of voice from whispering to shouting, speak with a different accent, or use a lisp, to
confuse the subject.

13. Hypnotic trigger

There are many forms of hypnotic triggers. A trigger

reminds the subconscious of a desired action or
feeling which was suggested under hypnosis. Here
are a few examples:

Opening eyes
Sound of a bell
Snap of fingers
Clap of hands
Standing up or sitting down
Opening a door

Here is how a hypnotic trigger could apply to agoraphobia:

“When you open a door, you might see your loving family on the other side.”

Reading Body Language

14. Nonverbal Communication

Hypnotists are experts at nonverbal communication – from reading a client’s body language to
conveying your own non-verbal suggestions. While a client could be saying one thing
consciously, the subconscious mind could tell a completely different story. Here are a few
examples of how the subconscious might affect body
language:

Facial expressions
Body posture
Voice tone
Pacing
Eye movements
Arms crossed
Head nods
Covering face

Advanced Tip: How To Become An Expert In Non-Verbal Communication (with case example)

15. Cold reading

You might have seen psychics, mediums, stage hypnotists, or mentalists perform a “cold
reading” on TV for entertainment purposes. Though it’s generally too direct to use with a client,
you might use cold reading at a party or a networking event. Here’s how cold reading works.
For example, if the subject is not smiling, the hypnotist might ask:

H: “Are you sad?” – Start by asking a general or vague question from observation.

S: “Yes” – If they reply no, reset and ask another vague question.

H: “Has someone left you?” – Drill down and ask a more specific question. This could be a
relationship or a pet or a family member.

S: “Yes! How did you know my cat fluffy died?”

16. Warm reading

With a warm reading, you make a statement that could apply to anyone:

“You feel happy when you are surrounded by friends.”

17. Hot reading

The most difficult type, because you need to have some prior knowledge about the person.
Let’s say their family member contacted you and told you that the person was involved in a
traumatic event. When you meet them, you might focus on using the “regression to a cause”
technique because you have prior knowledge about the past event.

Triggers & Advanced Hypnotherapy Techniques

18. The Swish Pattern

Submodalities can be used in “the swish pattern” – a neuro-linguistic programming technique

used to associate or dissociate the client with certain behaviors. The five senses are considered
modalities (taste, smell, sight, touch, hearing). A submodality is a subset of these senses. Here
are some examples of submodalities:

Bright or dim?
Large or small?
Color or black and white?
Loud or soft sounds?

The Swish Pattern begins with a visualization. Once

the client is in a trance the hypnotist identifies one
or two submodalities (brightness, size, etc). The
undesirable action is large, focused, and bright in the
foreground, while the desired action is visualized as
small and dim in the background. In the time it takes
you to say “Swish” (the method’s namesake) the
desired image rapidly becomes bright and large in
the client’s mind.

19. Misdirection

We see misdirection used in the real world, sometimes on a daily basis – from politics to
entertainment. The prefix “mis” means wrong and “direction” is attached to it, meaning the
audience is being lead in the wrong direction. There are two types of misdirection – one is
literal and the other is of the mind.

A familiar demonstration of the first would be a magician distracting people by waving a wand
in his left hand and then performing a sleight of hand with his right. While the audience is
misdirected, the magician sneaks a card up his sleeve giving the illusion that it has
“disappeared”.

Misdirection can also be a visualization:

“As you become anxious, imagine you are relaxing on a beach”

Here, a subject dealing with anxiety is misdirected to
the visualization of themselves on a beach. The
hypnotist has directed them from an unpleasant
image towards a pleasant one.

20. Reframing

Usually done as a metaphor, reframing allows you to

change the perception of an experience in the
client’s mind. For example, imagine you have a client
that wants to lose weight. They stay inside and play
video games all day. You could ask them to describe
the process to “level up” their character in the video game – what they do, how long it takes,
how strong the character is at the beginning. And then, “reframe” the process of losing weight
in their mind by comparing it to the video game.

“Losing weight is like leveling up your character in a video game. You start slow and train every day. You
don’t see much difference at the beginning, but over time your ‘character’ becomes stronger and
stronger.”

21. Regression to cause

First the client enters a deep trance where they can experience events as if they were actually
there (also known as somnambulism). The therapist uses visualization to create an “affect
bridge” where the client experiences an event for the first time again. Once the cause is
identified the hypnotherapist can make suggestions and reframe the situation.

22. Future Pacing

The opposite of regression, when a subject is asked to visualize themselves taking the proper
actions and behaviors in the future. Rather than look back into the past for an underlying
negative event, you look forward to an event with positive emotions.

“Imagine you are done with your speech and the crowd is cheering. You feel accomplished and relieved.”

23. Anchoring
When we record a memory, all of the senses and
emotions are associated. These are “anchors” in your
memory. Perhaps the client has anchored the
behavior of cigarette smoking with a break, meal,
sex, chatting with friends and other pleasurable
feelings. The hypnotist can suggest new anchors for
more positive behavior.

24. Betty Erickson’s 3-2-1 Technique

Betty Erickson was Milton Erickson’s wife. She

developed her own method for self-hypnosis known
as the 3-2-1 technique. The procedure starts with
your eyes open. You take note of 3 things in the room that you can see, hear, and feel. For
example: you might see a painting on the wall, a table, and a clock. You might hear birds
outside the window, the hum of a refrigerator, and the clock ticking. You might feel the
pressure of the chair on your back, your feet on the floor, and the warmth of the sunlight
through the window. The process repeats focusing on 2 items from each sensation, and then 1
item (hence the name 3-2-1). Then, you close your eyes and start over by visualizing 3 objects
from each sense in your head. Again you count down. Once you’ve reached the last item, you
will be in a trance.

25. Incrementalism

Making a tiny change is the stepping stone to a

much large one. For example, if a client is trying to
lose weight, daily cardio may be too big of a leap.
Instead, you could suggest they start with a small
increment: take the stairs for one floor and then hop
in the elevator as they typically would. The next
week, two flights of stairs. Eventually, they will have
worked up to the larger goal and overall better
behavior.

Another example: Go to the gym once a week for 5

minutes. The commitment is so small it’s impossible
to fail. You will likely end up staying for more than 5
minutes, incrementing the duration and amount of days over the course of a month.

26. Parts Therapy

In theory, all behavior is positive in some way. The subconscious may justify one negative
behavior with a positive one. An agoraphobic may
not leave the house because the subconscious aims
to protect the body from the dangers of the outside
world. A smoker may harm their body physically in
order to seek pleasurable conversation with other
smokers outside.

The mind is made up of multiple parts. With parts

therapy, the hypnotherapist communicates with the
behavior part to better understand why an action is
being taken. Then they would communicate with the
creative part of the mind to come up with another
solution. In the example of the smoker, perhaps
there is another way they can satisfy the need for
social interaction – a book club, a bowling group. The therapist then uses future pacing to
reinforce the positive behavior.

27. Metaphor

Metaphors are therapeutic and memorable. Erickson loved to use metaphors in his books and
teachings. Here are some classic metaphors:

Your body is a car. Give it the right fuel and it will perform well. If you neglect the
maintenance and fill it with poor fuel, and it will break down.
Your mind is like a river that is ebbing and flowing. You can stand on the bank of the river
and watch it go by or you can try to swim against the current.
You are a mountain – strong, impenetrable, and tall.

28. Hypnotic Bind

The hypnotic bind is a favorite amongst parents and presents the “illusion” of choice with an
either/or question. Here’s one example:

“Would you like to brush your teeth or take a bath?”

Advanced Tip: Use the double bind to present two options for the same desirable behavior:

“Would you like to go to bed in 10 minutes or 20 minutes?”

Either way, the child is performing the desired action of going to bed.
 29. Hypnotic logic

Under trance, a client interprets statements very

literally. If you ask the client “Can you sit up” they will
respond “Yes”. We call this hypnotic logic.

You can use hypnotic logic along with suggestions

like so:

“You can lose weight because you are successful”

Although being successful doesn’t necessarily mean

you’re able to lose weight, the statement is taken literally.

30. Affirmations & Positive Thinking

An affirmation confirms a positive thought. For a client with body dysmorphia, you may have
them repeat back under trance “I am beautiful” several times.

31. Reconnections

Memories fade over time. While that might be good for someone with a negative experience,
positive experiences can also fade.

Abilities, just like memories, can be forgotten as well. An agoraphobic may forget that there
was once a time they had the ability to go outdoors.

As a hypnotherapist you can help bring these positive memories and abilities back using
rehearsal and visualization with the client.

Bonus: Want even more hypnotherapy techniques, with step-by-step videos? Check out our
online hypnosis courses.

By The British Hypnosis Research & Training Institute | January 7th, 2020 | Hypnotherapy techniques

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