We often get asked by students and clients alike, why we repeat the language patterns that we relay to clients in a hypnotic trance?

Well, there are a few reasons why repetition is so important for the brain. Firstly, people learn through repetition. Repetition builds pathways in our brain. If we repeat a positive story (say within hypnosis) then we start creating new positive patterns in our brain. This is extremely useful for someone suffering from anxiety or depression, especially when they’ve got into a pattern of thinking negatively!

We constantly repeat the following to our students: “The brain learns by repetition”. It’s a bit like learning to drive or teaching yourself a new language – do you do it once and master it? No, you need to repeat. This allows the brain to learn, so repetition is very good for us when learning new ways of thinking.

Another reason for repetition is a little bit more complex. You have one brain and two minds – the conscious and the subconscious. The subconscious has elements within it that are responsible for your survival (the fight, flight response) and it’s the subconscious that makes us feel anxious if it feels we don’t have control over life. It’s like a warning bell that can go off to alert us to danger. Now, that might be the potential danger of Covid-19 in current times, or it could quite simply be the bank statement arriving.

In order to help clients move forward, we help them understand how their subconscious mind works and explain that the fight/flight/anxious part of the brain loves repetition.  Why does it love repetition? Well, that part of the brain believes that if it repeats today what it did yesterday, then it stands more chance of survival. Makes sense really. But, it sees change as dangerous. If we haven’t done something before then the brain hasn’t got a pattern of behaviour to refer to from yesterday, so it doesn’t know whether a potential change is survivable.

Let me give you an example:

Imagine you’re a caveperson a few hundred thousand years ago, and you’re coming out of your cave with a homemade bucket to go and collect water from a nearby stream. There are two routes you could take; a left-hand pathway or a much longer route via a right-hand pathway. Most days you have quite a lot to do, so you always take the left-hand pathway for efficiency. Because this is a well-trodden pathway, your subconscious mind knows where the dangerous bits are i.e. a bit of ledge you have to walk around that has a big drop or maybe some woods where wild animals might hide? So, your brain will go on alert as it approaches these known areas. However, it will also know where it can relax, such as that nice pathway where there’s a lovely view and you can see for ages and therefore relax knowing there are no wild animals around. Relaxing saves a lot of brain energy and reduces anxiety!!

But what happens if you come out of your cave one morning and there’s been a rockfall on that left-hand pathway which forces you to go the long way round via the right-hand pathway? Well, your brain doesn’t have a previous repetitive pattern to refer to and it doesn’t know where there could be dangerous bits or safe bits, so it starts to move into alert mode all the way along this pathway not knowing what’s around the next corner. This takes up a lot more energy and can make the brain anxious.

It’s a bit like giving a presentation for the first time or doing something outside our comfort zone – the subconscious starts knocking on the door asking “Are you sure you want to do this”?  Once we have been down the same path a few times, we relax! Hence, when in trance, if we’re going down a pathway we’ve been before, the subconscious mind feels safer and thereby less defensive. We know this allows it to become more accepting of positive suggestions in a trance state.

So yes, repetition is very good for the brain!

Since March (The COVID-19 Lockdown), like many training courses, we found ourselves delivering teaching using video conferencing online (Zoom). We needed to deliver the sessions professionally with equal spirit and energy. We also wanted to pass our knowledge on to the students so they could confidently use Zoom to deliver their practice sessions.

So, would sessions be as effective online?

The University of Manchester published research in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis showing that using hypnosis on Skype was an effective treatment for people with IBS (International Journal of clinical and Experimental hypnosis 2019).

The University of Zurich found that online therapy was more effective for clients with depression than face-to-face therapy (Journal of Affective Disorders, 2013).

A team of Global experts in mental health have written in the Lancet Psychiatry about what they describe as ‘telepsychiatry’ (online therapy). The experts say that online therapy is particularly helpful when it is delivered in an intelligent, targeted manner that provides appropriate support. They also recommended focusing on routine measurement and valued outcomes being part of the therapy.

What does mean for Hypnotherapists?

Although the Covid situation has propelled most of us onto using video conferencing platforms. Many Clinical Hypnotherapists have been using this platform for many years. The Zoom format is secure and with technical additions, we are able to not only visually see the client we can communicate easily with minimal disturbance. The session format remains unchanged and we can even feed the music through the computer system, so it is clear and crisp.

For those Hypnotherapists who embraced online therapy many years ago, they have been able to widen the scope of their practice and broaden the appeal to those who were unable to leave home or too far away to travel. Now, we can all benefit from learning how to use Zoom effectively. We now incorporate this topic into our teaching and will continue to do so when we are able to return to face-to-face.

Global Experts in Mental Health recommend at this time, that all therapists should have regular periods of reflection to enhance their practice. Once qualified, our graduates continue to be fully supported with supervision and continued personal development (CPD). They are able to talk freely about their successes and can seek assistance with any queries or problems that they encounter. This support is crucial in maintaining standards and updating their knowledge. The tutors at CPHT are qualified supervisors and offer this support online in a group or one-to-one setting.

All CPHT graduates are very fortunate to be in the position of having the skills to deliver the therapy that the client needs and our therapy can be delivered effectively through video conferencing platforms. As described by the experts in the Lancet, the solution-focused approach fulfils the recommendations of therapy being measured, individualised and refined.

Clinical hypnotherapists are very much needed at this time to help those affected by this crisis and online therapy has allowed us to do this, we are grateful.