ARTHRITIC AND OTHER PAIN
Use any good induction and deepener, preferably suited to the
client’s personality type. Then:
… all right, now you’re lying there so relaxed, I want you just to
think for a few moments about that pain… just let you mind observe it in
a detached sort of way… so that it causes little discomfort… far less
discomfort than you are actually used to, in fact… and I wonder if you
can now put a color to that pain? Just tell me what color that pain
would be, if it were to have a color…
Wait for client response. Prompt if necessary: Is it maybe a
sort of red color? Pain is often a sort of red color… or maybe it’s a
bright yellow… many of my clients have told me that it’s a bright yellow
color… (The ‘many of my clients’ statement is subconsciously reassuring
to your client)
… good, well done… so it’s a sort of . . . . . . . . . color…. I’ll
bet you never thought of that pain as having a color before… now, here’s
something similar for you to think about… I want you to imagine what
sort of color would be there, if there wasn’t any pain… just let your
mind think about that for a moment or two… what sort of color might be
there is there was no pain, just comfort… just comfort where the pain
used to be… what sort of color is that… where the pain used to be…?”
Wait for response. Prompt if necessary: Could it be a sort of
green, perhaps? Or maybe more like a blue. A lot of people see their
comfort color as a sort of blue color… but perhaps you have your own
healing color….
…good… you’re really clever at putting colors to feelings, aren’t
you? I bet you didn’t know you could do that before today… now, what
sort of color would we get if we mixed your pain color with your comfort
color? (assist if necessary) Right. So if we manage to get some
of your pain dissolving into that healing color, we should get . . . . .
. . right?
Wait for response.
Ok, I’ll tell you what we’re going to do…
Here, you have to use your own skills to decide what’s best. A
lotion or gel that can be repeatedly applied, a ‘special’ bowl or bath
where ‘healing fluid’ can pour from the taps, a tub of healing balm, a
big tube of penetrating ointment… whatever will work best for the
particular client. I frequently ask how they would prefer their ‘healing
compound’ to be - this is very effective, since it is their own
imagination we are having to work with. The example of a tub that I have
used here is effective for many things.
So we have a huge tub of that healing gel… and don’t worry, because
there’s plenty more if we need it… but just for the moment, I want you
to imagine plunging you hand into that tub of gel and taking a really
big handful of it… can you feel that in your hand? Is it warm or cool?…
good… now, in your mind, just rub that gel gently into (affected
area)… can you see it changing color? It’s changing to (whatever
color has been decided), right?… now, you can feel the pain steadily
diminishing… ok, that’s good… now, in your mind, just rinse that gel
away with cool clear water… just rinsing away the pain that used to be
in your body… doesn’t that feel good!… right, now let’s do all that
again… just grab another handful of that gel and gently rub it into
(affected area)… now, what’s happening this time? The color is
changing far more slowly, right? That’s because there is far less pain
there now to change the color… and next time, I bet, the color will
hardly change at all…
Repeat the process as necessary. Eventually your client should
report that there seems to be no pain left - or that any pain left is so
diminished that it’s of no great consequence. Where there is resistance
and the client insists that the pain is not diminishing at all, then you
need to search out the hidden agenda/secondary gain that is definitely
in operation.
Good, you did that beautifully, really well… isn’t the power of the
subconscious amazing, once you learn how to communicate with it? Now,
you will be able to do that whenever you need to… just relax yourself as
much as you can (teaching self-hypnosis is almost an essential here)
then do exactly the same thing that we’ve done today… and do you know,
each time you do that, the benefit will last even longer!
All right, now it’s time to bring the session to an end, just knowing
that tub of healing gel is always there for you, whenever you need it….
END SESSION. |