Magic Hands: Ideodynamic Processes in Hypnosis

Presentation Handout for the Global Hypnosis Summit

March 13th - 15th 2009

There is a great deal of information presented directly and indirectly in the Magic Hands presentation.
These notes are not intended to be a complete representation of the material, but serve as a summary
outline of five processes included in the program.

Elman Handshake

This method involves shaking a person's hand three times. It's not intended to be a surprise induction
or an instant induction, but is for use with someone who is prepared to go into hypnosis.

Tell your client, “In a moment I'm going to take your hand, and shake it three times like this …” take
their hand and offer them a demonstration to show them what you're going to do. ..

Continue with “The first time I shake your hand,” (shake their hand) “your eyes are going to become
heavy. Let them.”

“The second time I shake your hand,” (shake their hand) “your eyes will want to close. Let them.”

“The third time I shake your hand,” (shake their hand) “your eyes will relax so completley that they
won't want to open and they'll become locked shut. Want that to happen … allow that to happen …”

“Are you ready?”

The description itself is part of the induction and some people will drop into trance while you're simply
demonstrating it with them … but if not, continue by saying “Let's begin then ...” and leading them
through the process a second time directing them through it with supportive suggestions.

© 2009 – Michael Watson – Phoenix Services for Personal Development

726 Vassar St. Orlando, FL 32804
Email: FLHypno@msn.com Phone: 407-481-0802 Web: www.phoenix-services.org
 Erickson's Ambiguous Touch

Because he was paralyzed in the right arm, Erickson used this to his advantage … and when
compounded by his prestige and his personal intensity, and mixed with the element of unexpected
surprise, it led to this interrupted handshake induction.

As the person reaches out with their right hand toward yours (especially if you offer it to extend a
handshake), interrupt the expected pattern by taking their right hand into your LEFT … holding their
gaze … and speaking supportively as you manipulate their hand ambiguously. After a few moments
you may be able to feel some degree of catalepsy in their arm, confirming the development of trance.

(See the video – Magic Hands – for a demonstration of this) In the demonstration done for the Global
Hypnosis Summit, the subject did not develop the usual catalepsy, but instead the hand and arm
became extremely relaxed. In that case, as you can see, the best response is to make meaning out of the
profound relaxation and use it as an entrance into deeper hypnosis.

Bandler Handshake

As the subject extends their right hand to meet yours in a handshake, interrupt the pattern by taking
ahold of their right wrist with your LEFT hand and pulling it up (quickly) in front of their face. Then
conduct them through the sequence as follows:

Look at your hand …

Notice the changing focus of your eyes

The eyes close and that hand can drift down only as quickly as you allow yourself to go deeper and
farther into trance … etc

Continue patter as the hand descends slowly with encouraging and supportive suggestions for trance
development and deepening as well as ideas that create expectancy and set the frame for whatever
therapeutic work may follow.

© 2009 – Michael Watson – Phoenix Services for Personal Development

726 Vassar St. Orlando, FL 32804
Email: FLHypno@msn.com Phone: 407-481-0802 Web: www.phoenix-services.org
 Ideomotor Protocol

Begin with an induction of hypnosis

As the induction progresses, establish an unconscious ideomotor signal.

“I wonder if you know which hand your unconscious mind is going to choose to be the one
to help us out in this process .. . and you may think it's the right hand … or maybe the other
one would be right for your unconscious mind to choose to make an honest unconscious
movement ... maybe one or the other of those fingers … which one is it going to be? … can
offer a signal to let us know …” (continue the patter and watch for and confirm the signal
when it comes) … “Yes, that's RIGHT …”

After and induction, establish a creative model to represent the accessing of unconscious information.
(I have found it useful, with health related issues for example, to suggest a Blue Print for Perfect and
Total Health. Other possibilities include a library of knowledge, a wise sage or inner knower, a
computer, or anything else that seems fitting and appropriate for the individual client)

Based upon the model you present, invite the clients unconscious mind to study the information related
to the issue at hand. Obtaining signals along the way to indicate that it's accessing the information, and
another signal to indicate that it's found a way to apply the information. (It is not necessary for the
conscious mind to know what has been discovered, all that's required is that you get an unconsciously
generated signal.

Finally, have the client give conscious permission for the unconscious mind to apply the learning and
get a confirmation signal back from the unconscious as a ratification.

© 2009 – Michael Watson – Phoenix Services for Personal Development

726 Vassar St. Orlando, FL 32804
Email: FLHypno@msn.com Phone: 407-481-0802 Web: www.phoenix-services.org
 Rossi Ideodynamic Protocol

1. Invite the client to look at their hands as though they've never seen them before …. (I proceed
this with a variety of considerations to get the client involved with focused involvement on their
hands. This begins the development of attention into a pre-trance state.)

2. With the hands still floating in space, have the client close their eyes to “notice which one of
those hands” is going to drift down slowly as they review the history, impact, understandings,
beliefs, etc associated with the issue they're working on. Maintain supportive and encouraging
patter until that hand comes to rest in their lap.

3. Allow the other hand to come down as they review and consider various solutions, make
discoveries, re-evaluate the limiting beliefs or conclusions that they have held and encourage an
inner reorganization and new perspectives to arise and become fully available to them. Again
offere encouraging patter that inhibits consious mind interference with the unconscious process
until that had comes to a resting place in their lap.

4. Future Pace by inviting them to take the change into the future. Although NOT demonstrated in
the Summit Presentation, I will often ask the client, once the hands are both resting in their lap,
to invite their unconscious mind to generate a behavioral prescription … to come up with some
piece of behavior that they can engage in in the next day or so as an indication and declaration
that the work done here is complete and will find it's way out into the world. Sometimes the
“prescription” offered is a specific indication of the requested change, and other times it's a
seemingly unassociated piece of behavior (one client said, “for the next three days I'm gong to
brush my teeth with my left hand”) … either way it serves as a ratification of the process.

© 2009 – Michael Watson – Phoenix Services for Personal Development

726 Vassar St. Orlando, FL 32804
Email: FLHypno@msn.com Phone: 407-481-0802 Web: www.phoenix-services.org