When I first tried self hypnosis, I didn’t have to make a choice. It was already prepackaged into the audio goal achievement program so all I had to do was whip it into my pda phone and listen to it when I need to.

Conducting the 21 Day Self Hypnosis Group Experiment, however made me realize that getting the right prescription is as important as clarifying your goal. If your goal’s vague, it’s likely you’ll have difficulty deciding a suitable prescription. And I believe that’s also the same reason why people has reported mixed success with self hypnosis.

To shed some light on choosing the right self hypnosis prescription, I’ve invited Mark Tyrrell, Creative Director of Hypnosis Downloads (who is also a professional hynotherapist cum hypnosis trainer) to share with me his insights in this exclusive interview and how he went about choosing the tapes for the 6 participants in our experiment.

Mark, first of all, thank you and your company Hypnosis Downloads for supporting this 21 Day Self Hypnosis Experiment.

I remembered when I first worked with Mark Heald on the experiment, he mentioned that it would be more effective if the participants specified their goal and your team assisted in prescribing the downloads.

I know you guys are professionals and since you understand each self hypnosis tape offering in your store more than anyone else, it’s naturally more effective that you’ll be able to match the right prescription with their intended goals.

Now, for someone who doesn’t have the luxury of having you guys to pick a prescription for him, how would you advise him to make his own selection?

First and foremost, like what you’ve said in the introduction, I think it’s really important to be clear about what you want to achieve out of the hypnosis experience.

For instance, in the case of a weight loss situation, someone who’s having issues binging on junk food, will definitely have a different set of requirements as compared to another who’s having issues motivating himself to exercise. Though on the surface both of them want to lose weight, the suggestions we run through the self hypnosis session are actually different. The clearer you’re on this, the easier it is to choose a download that really pinpoints to the crux of issue. Generally that increases the effectiveness of the session as well.

We need to match your goals with the self hypnosis program. The good thing about most online hypnosis downloads stores nowadays is that they’re all designed for self selection. That means even if you’re not a professional hypnotherapist, you can still customize your own self hypnosis prescription.

If you take a minute to refer to the product listing on Hypnosis Downloads, you’ll find that each comes with a detailed product description that elaborates on its usage and objective. There’s also my blog which discusses some of the ideas and purposes for the downloads. It’s important to look at these two references carefully if you’re getting a download from Hypnosis Downloads. Anything that’s so personal that it relates or appeals to your specific goal right away is likely suitable.

At the same time, it’s also worth reading if the testimonials from other people attached to each download (before they were helped by the session) matches your goals as that definitely tells whether a particular session may well be for you.

Great, that certainly doesn’t sound too difficult! Let’s go through the process of how you came up with the prescription for each participant, shall we? First, Aarron Light & Carmina. Both of them had similar weight loss goals. What have you got for them?

For both of them, I’ve prescribed “Weight Loss Motivation”. This hypnosis for weight loss has been prescribed because of the perennial human problem. Which has to do with not just getting motivated but staying motivated. It’s also known as ‘running out of steam’ or ‘motivation leakage’.

At first it’s great. You’re losing weight, feeling better, and this newness is great motivation in itself but after a while, you get used to being a bit slimmer, the excitement of weight loss slows down and so does the motivation. But long term success needs more than initial enthusiasm. It needs sustained intention.

The weight loss motivation session seeks to maintain the new healthy behaviors as something you do as part of who you are, like cleaning your teeth. It seeks to use more than just excitement (which is transitory) to maintain motivation.

We all know how it feels to be revved up by something and excited by it. This is a great initial stage to adopting a new healthy set of habits but for long term motivation the healthy behavior needs to become something you just do. This session really aims to look at long term sustainable adoption and maintenance of healthy weight loss patterns. Getting slimmer and what I call ‘finding your real shape’ doesn’t just pay health dividends but boosts self esteem and can help with motivation in other areas. That’s what we call a happy ‘ripple effect.’

Hmm… that brings me to another question. Based on your experience, what’s the results like for 2 different people using the same prescription?

Ah, good question. Well, of course people are different and therefore respond differently. Some people take more naturally and readily to hypnotic trance and others need more practice and repetition to learn how to use hypnosis.

For example the boy who used our wart treatment download to clear the fourteen or so warts covering his hands (and, painfully, under his cuticles) took two months before he was clear of them. See his story here.

Whereas Danna Gonzalez listened to the Healthy Eating session just three times before she started seeing major results. Her story can be found here.

Wow, thanks for the examples! I’m sure Aarron & Carmina’s results are going to be different even though they’re going through the same program. In your point of view, what could be the factors causing any major deviation in such cases?

Well one factor would be the amount of weight loss desired. For someone very large, the initial weight loss can be pretty huge. On the other hand, if the person is slimmer, then any initial weight loss can be less noticeable. Healthy levels of motivation and a willingness to listen regularly to the sessions also, of course, play a role.

Listening once a day to start with is an excellent way to start. And once results become evident then three times a week is a good maintenance schedule. It’s great if people start off with healthy levels of motivation but in any case, the job of each download is also to hopefully provide motivation too. So, that’s killing 2 birds with one stone!

Next, Lisa Powers. She has a desire to write a book. What’s most suitable for her?

For Lisa, I’ll recommend “Write That Book”.

Again, motivation for writing a book can feel removed from the actual process of writing. This can sound strange but we can get immediate emotional rewards from talking about the book we are going to write, fantasizing about having written it that once we come to sit down and actually write. We feel that the ‘juice’- which is the initial excitement - has already been spent, so why bother?

This is like wanting to go on a long walk and getting excited about the things you’ll see but feeling let down by the fact you have to take individual steps. This session works on developing unconscious motivation to keep on keeping on. A book can be seen like any other off spring something to be continuously nurtured not only when we feel excited by ‘parenting’ but as a way of life.

Actually writing a book can be like having a deep and passionate relationship! Having to get back to it, being faithful to it, feeling compelled to be with it, taking the rough times with the smooth. I hope that doesn’t sound too dramatic but to produce something creatively, we need to have a relationship with it and that has to be a strong one in order to give it your all.

Haha, I certainly can relate to that! I’ve always had that kind of dilemma whenever I really sit down to write articles for Goal Setting College

It’s not just about writing. It’s about writing something that’s sincere, creative and resonates with someone who reads it. How about M De Jong? She wants to seek an average of 4.5 clarity in her career direction.

Hmm… for De Jong. It’s “Find Your Passion“. This session really focuses on what ‘lights your fire’ what you want to do in life and how to get there. We can all just keep on doing what we do because it’s what we’ve always done but this session seeks to get people out of ruts and follow their heart.

Before I discovered hypnosis and began working with it I always felt I’d kind of drifted a little and never been totally engaged in what I did professionally. But the spark of interest developed into a blaze of fascination especially when I found how powerfully life changing hypnotic strategies could be for other people and me. So that difference between just muddling along and feeling compelled to go forward is really what drives this particular session.

Awesome! Next on the List. Mark Barr. He wants to share his network marketing business opportunity & product with 21 people by the end of this experiment.

In Mark’s case, it’s definitely “Reach Your Goals“.

To reach goals we need to be motivated not just initially but right past the finishing line. This hypnotic session again looks at how motivation leeks away and how that ‘leakage’ happens and how to prevent it from locking in motivation leakage. Wow, this is starting to sound like an incontinence commercial! Ha ha.

The “Reach Your Goals” session works to fix a goal in mind in such a way that it becomes part of who you are at least until it is achieved. The session can be used throughout the period of goal fulfillment. Goals of course need to be broken down into manageable steps. This session enables the user to envisage these individual steps. We are much more likely to actually do something if we have strongly imagined doing it. Hypnosis takes this imagination much further.

Years ago before Roger Elliott and myself had even started Hypnosis Downloads or our hypnotherapy diploma training program we sat down and, in great detail, role played having already achieved what it was we were going for.

It may sound crazy but we relentlessly asked each other just how we had achieved what we were (imagining) we had achieved. We play acted such a detailed account of how we were going to get there to such an extent that by the end of the session we had a thorough road map but, just as importantly, we felt we had actually ‘lived’ our goals and now they are a part of us. Not just an idea. And the rest as they say is history.

I’ve another question. Mark’s prescription “sounds” pretty generic. I mean, someone aspiring to write a book like Lisa Powers could have easily selected “Reach Your Goals” instead of “Write That Book”?

Assuming that Lisa popped by your store and purchase “Reach Your Goals”, how would that impact her chances of achieving her own goal?

Well some of the sessions do cross over and it can be experimental in the sense that some people just get on better with some sessions than others for all kinds of different reasons.

Eat Healthy may be as effective as the Weight loss session in helping a person slim. In the specific book writing example it’s true to say that “Reach Your Goals” may be as effective but as mentioned earlier in my reply to your first question, the more personal the better if your specific goal is actually being discussed the session as a whole is more likely to appeal to you.

We’ve these generic type sessions because, of course, we can’t address every single goal someone might have.

Yeah, sometimes there’s just no way you can cover everything, even though from the size of your products list, you’ve pretty much covered most if not all! I’m sure there’s definitely a session for everyone!

Now for our last participant Imagi, what have you got for her? She wants to find an ideal life partner.

It must be “Be More Attractive To Men“!

Finding a partner, the right partner, is and always has been a challenge fraught with difficulties. In days gone by, when social codes were more strictly adhered to, it was generally possible for most people to rely on living by these codes to help them find appropriate life-partners.

But in the modern world it’s every one (man or woman), for themselves. It can seem like a lottery. You have to find, attract, and hold the one you want by your own efforts.. But how? What, exactly, will appeal to a man? This session looks at firstly what men find attractive (certainly not just looks) and how to attract a suitable partner.

OK, in Imagi’s case, I’ve actually asked her to draft a profile of the person she intends to attract. Is there any way she can relate to that profile during her self hypnosis process to increase her chances of attracting someone like that?

Yes and it’s a very important thing to have a least an idea of the kind of partner you’d like to be with. So many people either continue to make repeating mistakes in their choices or have a sense that ‘anyone is someone’.

Imagi can think about the kind of man she would like in her life throughout the session. Or intermittently through it. Because of the way hypnosis works she can half listen to what is being send on the audio and also focus on the ‘profile’ of the man she would like. With hypnosis you can be thinking about one thing and other suggestions and ideas can still take affect. I hope this has been useful.

It definitely is! Many thanks to Mark, for his insightful answers!

Just a short update on the 21 Day Self Hypnosis Group Experiment. On 10 June 2008, the 6 participants have already started their self hypnosis experiment using the prescribed downloads and have been logging their progress in the private platform I’ve set up for them.

Update 3/7/08 : For your convenience, here are the links to the Self Hypnosis Group Experiment logs and I’ll continuously update this list as the interviews are completed.

Can Self Hypnosis Really Help In Achieving Your Goals?

How to Select the Right Self Hypnosis Scripts & Prescription

Self Hypnosis Experiment : 1st Week’s Progress

译文: 如何选择适当的自我催眠术

我第一次尝试自我催眠时，不需要做出选择。因为我已经参加了一个音频目标完成程序，所以我需要做的只是打开我的PDA手机，在我需要的时候听听录音。
作了21天自我催眠实验组的领导，使我意识到选择正确的药方与明确自己目标同等重要。如果你的目标不够明确，就好像你很难决定一个合适的药方。而且我相信这跟为什么有些人在自我催眠和成功之间挣扎的原因是相同的。
    为了摆脱那些偶然发现的合适的自我催眠药方，我邀请了创造自我催眠程序的负责人Mark Tyrrell来与我分享他的见解以及他在实验中如何选择6位参与者的录音。
    Mark,首先谢谢你以及你的公司来支持这个实验。
    我记得，当我第一次与Mark Heald一起工作时，他提到，如果参与者能够明确他们的目标，而你的团队在药方程序上给予协助的话，这次实验将会更有效。
    我知道，你的同伴们都是专业人士。因为你们比其他人更了解你们储藏的每一个催眠录音，自然的，你们就能更有效的选择与他们想要的目标相匹配的药方。
    首要的，正像你在介绍中所说的，我觉得真正重要的是要明白你在这次经历中想要取得什么成就。
    例如，就体重减轻的情况来说，对那些喜欢吃垃圾食品的人和那些激励自己做运动的人相比，很明显的，有着不同的要求。虽然，表面上，两种人都想要减轻体重，但是，我们在这期间个给他们的建议是完全不同的。你对这一点越清楚，你就越容易准确的找到处理问题症结的程序。一般的也能提高处理问题的效率。
    我们需要是你的目标与选择的自我催眠的程序相匹配。现今，大多数网上的自我催眠程序好的一点就是它们都是为了个人选择而设计的。也就是说即使你不是专业的催眠专家，你仍然可以自定义你自己的催眠药方。
    如果你花些时间来查阅催眠程序列出的条目，你会发现，它所列出的每一个条目都会很详细的说明它们的用法以及客观的描述。我也有专门的讨论这些程序的观点和目的的博客。如果你从催眠程序中取得一个程序，认真查阅上面提出的两种资料是很重要的。任何关于你个人具体目标的事物都是恰当的。
    同时，阅读那些来自别人对适合你的每个程序的表扬也是很重要的，因为这能明确的区别这个程序是否适合你。
值得注意的是，这些听起来一点也不难。让我们来仔细审查你如何为每个参与者找出药方的过程。首先，Aarron Light & Carmina这两个人有着类似的减肥目标。你为他们制定了什么药方？
    我为给他们两个人提供了“减肥诱因”的程序。提供这一程序是出于对人类长期存在的问题的考虑。与之有关的不仅仅是刚刚起步的动机，还有已经形成的动机。人们也称之为“失去动力”或“动机泄露”。
    开始的时候效果很好，你减了肥，感觉越来越好，而且这一新的变化，使减肥的动机本身更强烈。然而一段时间后，你已经习惯了短时间的苗条，但是你减肥的激情退却，动机也减弱。但是，长期的成功需要的不仅仅是最初的激情，还需要坚持下来。
    在这一段时间内，你又企图寻找适合你的新的有利于健康的方法，比如说清理你的牙齿。这需要的也不是短暂的激情。
    我们都知道被某些东西旋转的感觉，而且，我们会为之感到兴奋。这是我们接受好的健康习惯的开始，但是长期保持健康的动机需要的是你的行动。这段时间你真正的目标是长期的采取和坚持你健康减肥的模式。 变得苗条和我所说的找到自己的真正的体型不仅对健康有好处还可以增强自尊心，而且在其他领域对自己也是一个激励。这就的我们所说的令人高兴的“连锁反应”。
    这给我带来另一个问题。根据你的经验，对两个不同的人提供相同的药方会有什么样的结果？
    问的好，当然，人与人是不同的，所以反应也会因人而异。有些人很自然的就接受了催眠，而有些人则需要更多的实践，反复学习如何运用催眠术。
    举个例子，一个男孩用疣治疗程序来治疗他手上的瘤子，他花了2个月才治好它。而Danna Gonzalez听从了健康饮食建议后，仅仅三次就开始看到效果了。
    噢。谢谢你举出的事例，我确定，虽然Aarron 和 Carmina采取了相同的计划。可是他们的结果会不同。依你看来，在这些例子中。造成这些不同的主要原因是什么？
    嗯，一个原因是他们减轻体重期望值的不同。对有些人来说，特别强烈，在开始的时候，他们减轻的数量就相当巨大。另一方面,有些人，相对苗条点，那么他们在最初减肥的效果就相对没那么明显。对健康水平的期望以及有规律的听录音都是重要的原因。
    每天听一次是个很好的开始。一旦效果开始明显，一周听三次是保养的好办法。如果一开始人们的动机是为了健康，这很好，然而，不管怎样，每一个程序仍然有它所希望的诱因。这就起到了一石二鸟的作用。
    接下来，Lisa Powers想要写本书。什么是最适合她的呢？
    对于Lisa ，我会向她推荐“写那本书”。
    而且，写书的动机，能够有一种脱离写书过程的感觉。这听起来很奇怪，但是，我们能立即从谈论要写的这本书中得到感情上的奖励。想象我们已经写了它也会有同样的感觉。我们会觉得最初的激情已经付出了，为什么要觉得麻烦呢？
    这就像你想要走一长段路一样。想到你将要看到的东西而激动。可是，当你真正踏足了，又不免会失望。这段时期，发展中的潜意识会继续接受训练。不仅当我们感到“为人父母”的兴奋时，但作为一种生活方式，在一本书中,可以看到，像任何其他东西一样,跳到继续养育它们。
    事实上，写书就像拥有一种强烈的关系一样。你不得不回到它上面来，不得不对它忠诚，不得不被迫跟它在一起，不得不把艰苦的时光当作顺利的.我希望这些听起来不是那么戏剧化。但是，为了录制一些有创造性的东西，我们需要跟它建立一种关系，而且这种关系必须是强烈的，以此来把它全部带给你。
    哈哈，我可以把他们联系起来。每当我坐下来为学院制定的目标写文章的时候，我都会遇到这种困难。
    不仅仅是作品，写一些能够与读者产生共鸣的东西也有这样的问题。M De Jong怎么样？她想在她的职业生涯方向中寻求平均4.5的清晰。
    嗯。。。对于De Jong来说，主要是要“找到你的激情”。这段时期，真正关注的是什么点亮了你生命的火光，在生活中你要得到什么以及你如何得到。我们可以继续做我们所做的事，因为那是我们已经做的。但是这段时期就是要人们打破常规追随自己的心灵。
    在我发现催眠术及开始研究它之前，我总是有一种漂泊感，从来没有融入自己做的事情当中。但是，兴趣的火光发展成迷恋的烈火，尤其当我发现生活在改变人们催眠策略上神奇的力量时，这种感觉更加强烈。所以，混日子与被迫向前的不同之处在于是什么真正控制着这一时期。
    棒极了！下一个来谈谈Mark Barr.他想在这次实验结束时跟这21个人分享他在网络市场上商业机遇和产物。
    在Mark的案例中，明显的是“达到你的目标”。
    为了达到目标，我们需要的不仅仅是开始时要充满激情,而且还要把这种激情延续到最后，在催眠时期，要注意动机的遗失，以及这种遗失是怎么发生的，如何阻止动机遗失。哇，这开始听起来像一个自发的商业广告。
    几年前，在我们认真开始我们的催眠程序之前，角色的扮演已经达到了我们想要的。
    我们毫不留情的问彼此我们怎么得到我们想要的成就，这听起来很疯狂。我们扮演着自己的角色，我们详尽的记述了当初在那段时期结束时我们如何完成完整的解决方案，但是，重要的是，我们事实上跟我们的目标已经很接近，而现在他们已经是我们的一部分了。这不仅仅是一个笼统的想法，像他们说的，这是历史。
    我有另外一个问题，Mark的药方似乎十分的一般。我的意思是说，有些人，想要写一本像Lisa Powers的书，他们很容易的就选择“达到目标”而不是“写那本书”？假设Lisa出现在你的商店，追求“达到目标”那将会怎么影响她达到自己目标的机会呢？一些程序确实能改变立场，而且是实验性的。因为各种不同的原因，有些人和一些程序相处的很好，有些人则不然。
    在保持身材苗条这一方面，健康的饮食跟减肥程序一样有效。在一些具体书中的例子中，“达到目标”跟我先前回答你的第一个问题的内容可能同样有效如果你的目标越具体，越接近我们所讨论的程序，就越好
    我们有一些一般的程序，当然是因为我们不可能对每个人可能拥有的目标发表演说。
    有时，即使从我们自己的清单考虑，我们也不可能涵盖所有的东西。如果没有涵盖所有的，你几乎包括了大部分。我确定，一定会有一个程序适合每个人。

现在你为我们最后一位参与者带来了什么？她想找一个理想的生活伴侣。
    一定是“对男人很有吸引力”！
    找一个合适的伴侣，总是充满着困难与挑战。随着生活的进行，当社会法规要求被更严格的遵守时，对很多依赖这些法规生活的人来说，很可能帮助他们找到合适的生活伴侣。
    但是，在现代世界里，对于每个人来说，它就像是抽奖。你必须通过自己的努力来寻找，吸引，留住它。但是怎么做呢？什么才能吸引一个男人？这本书就是主要写什么能吸引男人以及如何吸引合适的伴侣。
    在Imagi的例子中，我已经让她画了一幅她想要吸引的男人的草图。在她自我催眠的过程中,有没有一种方法把她想吸引的人和她的机会联系起来？
    是的，想要一个合适的伴侣，有这个观点是很重要的。有那么多的人在他们的选择中犯错，或者抱着一种理解：任何人都可能是某一个人。
    在整个催眠过程中，Imagi可以想象出或间歇性的感到她想要一起生活的男人。因为催眠程序的工作方法，她可以一边听录音机，一边注意她喜欢的人的轮廓。在催眠程序中，你可以在想一件事的同时其他的建议和想法依然有效。我希望这些会有用。
    确实是这样。多谢Mark有远见的回答。对21天自我催眠实验组来说，这只是一个简短的信息更新。2008年6月10日，6位参与者已经开始了他们的自我催眠程序。而且已经在我为他们设置的平台上寻找他们的进步。
    为了方便你们，这里有一些于这个实验组有关的线索，而且，我会继续更新在这张单子上是采访内容。
    在完成你个人目标方面，自我催眠能否起到作用？
    怎样选择适合自己的催眠程序？
    自我催眠试验：第一周的进步