Demystifying Trance
Jun 20, 2016 Elaina Curran
Hypnotherapy, which uses trance, has helped countless people overcome a variety of issues such as lowering stress, weight control, phobias, anxiety, managing anger and more. Many of us, however, are still wary when we hear the word trance as it brings to mind, perhaps, shady Victorian figures swinging pocket watches in front of people’s faces as they fall helplessly under the hypnotist’s control. We may also have seen stage hypnotists seemingly put participants to sleep on stage or make them obey various commands. I daresay that if stage hypnotists had that much control over a person’s mind, they might find more earth shattering demonstrations than getting drunken or willing volunteers to cluck like chickens on stage.
By the mid-20th century, hypnosis was brought closer to mainstream mental health practice most notably through the work of one of the greatest psychotherapists and the father of modern-day hypnotherapy, Dr. Milton Erickson. No one understood the psyche, the subconscious and the applications of hypnosis better than Erickson. He was able to achieve a remarkable level of success through hypnosis but his greatest legacy to modern hypnotherapy was his belief that every individual already has within them all the resources they need to bring about change, and this is possible by accessing the subconscious through trance.
So, what is trance? Have you ever been in your car only to realise that you can’t remember driving part of the route? Or when you are attending a meeting at work and “snap back” to find you missed part of a presentation? We naturally go in and out of trance states every day and throughout the day. Some people describe trance as daydreaming, some as a laser-like focus on a single thought. Modern diagnostics have shown through EEG data that the electrical activity of the brain during trance does not replicate sleep, but more closely resembles brain waves as the body relaxes for sleep. Trance is a state of awareness where we are able to perceive incoming messages.
What does trance look like? Actually, it can exhibit in a number of ways. It could be a deeply relaxed physical state with calm, steady breathing. In some hypnotherapy sessions, clients may snore during trance. Although it looks like sleep, they hear everything being said and respond rapidly to the therapist’s suggestion to come back to full waking awareness as the session ends. Trance could be staring at a book or a computer screen while the mind is “a million miles away”. Athletes and performers can enter a trance state as they direct their focus completely on the task at hand.
“(David) Strettle’s elusiveness means there is already a buzz of anticipation in the Twickenham stands when he gets the ball, but he says he is oblivious to the crowd. “I notice the crowd when I run and off the pitch, but otherwise I’ve got my blinkers on and I don’t hear a thing.” (Timesonline 2007)”
Not “hearing a thing” from 12,000 Twickenham fans is an example of naturally-occurring trance, when your mind is in such a state of focused attention, it excludes all external stimuli.
To some extent, when the mind is in a relaxed, trance state, it is open to suggestion. Indeed, that’s how hypnotherapy works. However, in a therapeutic setting, the suggestions are positive, empowering and in the client’s best interests, as discussed and agreed upon between therapist and client. Therapeutic hypnosis is beneficial in reaching the subconscious mind and works efficiently in promoting desired changes in our thought patterns. Any suggestions made during a trance state that are deemed inappropriate by the subconscious will simply be rejected.
Modern society naturally seeks altered states of consciousness by way of other means such as alcohol, recreational drugs, meditation, prayer, intense physical activity or extreme sports. All these activities basically activate the same parts of the brain and generate a feeling of release, to some degree, from the hold our survival-based brain has on us. Trance and hypnosis have the same function. However, unlike some of the stimuli listed above that are harmful to our bodies and well-being, therapeutic trance as a method of reaching an altered state of awareness provides us with a safe, manageable and effective tool both for self-improvement and for healing.
By Elaina Curran, DSFH, CNHCreg, AfSFHreg
Published in BS35Local Magazine, June 2016 issue