This deepener is a variation of Milton Erickson’s “My Friend John” method. It works well for resistant subjects as most people like to help others or show them what to do; consequently the subject, in showing his best friend how to go into trance, goes into trance himself (or herself).
“See that chair over there? I’d like you to imagine that
your best friend is sitting there, wanting to be hypnotized, and that you’re the
one who is going to show him how to do it. So form an awareness of how your
friend looks, while sitting there. Give the instructions to your friend after
me (in your mind, if you wish).”
“Tell your best friend to close his eyes. Tell him to relax the tiny muscles
around the eyes. Are they relaxed? Good, now tell him to relax all of the facial
muscles and very slowly, very gradually, talk him through relaxing the rest of
his body, working down from the head to the toes and the shoulders to the
fingertips.”
Give a long pause to allow your subject to carry out this instruction,
intercepted with “that’s right” “good”, “relax”, very softly. Watch your subject
for muscle relaxation and change of skin color. Then continue:
“Now tell your best friend to breathe slowly, and deeply, in and out, deeper and
deeper. Now tell him that in a moment one of his hands will begin to feel light
and floaty. He might begin to wonder whether it will be the right hand or the
left hand. Tell him that those fingers are lifting ever so slowly, ever so
gently, off his lap (or wherever the hand is resting), and it is beginning to
float all the way up.”
This is an excellent tester to see how your
subject is responding. By now his own hand should begin to lift, and when you
observe the signs of this, encourage the movement by saying “lighter and
lighter”.
“And when his hand touches his face you will go into a very deep trance. You
will hear everything that I say but you will feel so comfortably relaxed that
you just want to sink deeper and deeper down into that wonderful feeling.”
If by chance the hand does not move at all, deepen the trance further by asking
him to take his friend down a very steep staircase. Be sure first though that he
is not afraid of heights.