Covering All Possibilities of Responses

Ericksonian Hypnotic Language Patterns

In keeping with the principle of “Utilization,” the pattern “Covering All Possibilities of Responses” deliberately sets out to create a scenario wherein you can utilize various client responses in a positive way. You do so by making sure you have all bases covered. Imagine we were going to toss a coin. You could say, “As you watch the coin, you may notice it lands heads up, or the coin may land tails side up, or it could land on its edge, and that will mean that today is your lucky day.” Kinda covers it all, don’t it?

Notice what you did. You said “Maybe “A” will happen, or maybe “B” will happen, or maybe “C” will happen, and that means “X” (something positive). Now, to the listener, since you no doubt included what was happening for them, they’ll equate whatever that was to the positive thing. This is great for group inductions because you could say a sentence like that to a roomful of people and they’d all get that positive result no matter what was happening for them.

Here’s another scenario where you can use it well: As a nice closing to a trance induction you could say, “And tonight as you sleep and dream, you may notice that your dreams are more vivid and exciting than they have been in a long time, or your dreams may seem normal, or you may not even remember your dreams at all, and that will be a sign that all these changes are being integrated at the deepest level of your conscious and your unconscious mind.”

When doing the hypnotic convincer Ernest Rossi has referred to as “fail-safe hypnosis” you could say, “I really don’t know if your hands will begin to move together, or if they will move apart, or even if they will stay exactly as they are.” Then, if their hands do move together you say, “That’s right. Many things are coming together for you now.” If they move apart you say, “Excellent. This indicates you are opening more and more to possibilities.” If they don’t move at all you say, “Excellent. Steady like a rock. It’s nice to see someone as steadfast and dependable as you.”

To read a transcript of an entire hypnosis trance induction based on Ernest Rossi’s “Fail Safe Hynosis” go here:  http://www.ericksonian.info/Fail-Safe Hypnosis.html

So, again, this pattern is the utilization principle in practice…utilizing whatever response your client offers you in a positive way.