Portland Oregon Hypnosis Class Schedule:

1. August 27th & 28th
2. September 10th & 11th
3. September 24th & 25th
4. October 1st & 2nd
5. October 15th & 16th
6. October 29th & 30th
7. November 12th & 13th
8. November 19th & 20th
9. December 3rd & 4th
10. December 17th & 18th
11. January 7th & 8th
12. January 21sth & 22nd

See our Hypnosis Training Course page for more details about our Hypnotherapy Certification Program.

As students at the Northwest Hypnosis Institute we’re learning how to successfully build rapport with other people using various techniques. These techniques have many different elements which we practiced in class with each other. The three basic elements involved being body language, voice and behavior, which are broken down into more specific areas.

Reading body language is something we do everyday. It’s how we know a co-worker is stressed out. We read their stiff posture and tense shoulders. When we meet people we read their body language too. If they have an open posture with their arms relaxed at their sides, we do the same to build rapport. By mimicking their open stance and appearing non-threatening, you’re encouraging them to remain calm and not go on the defensive. You’re building trust. People are comfortable around the familiar and by gently copying a person’s body language you are like them, and there for are familiar and able to be trusted. Like wise if you encounter a person who’s taken on a defensive posture with their arms crossed over their chest, you can help put them at ease by approaching them with an open and non-threatening posture which can relay trust and diffuse their apprehension.

Another technique hypnotherapists use to help build trust and rapport is through the use of their voice. By pitching the tone and volume of your voice as close as naturally possible to the client’s and matching their talking speed, you can also project familiarity resulting in their relaxing and trusting you. And like using your body language to put someone at ease, you can do the same with your voice. Keeping it gentle and non-aggressive, you can make someone feel safe and again, trust you.

Your behavior also contributes to your ability to build rapport with someone. If you show an interest in subjects someone else finds interesting, they will open up to you. Just like if you go to a sporting event, people who cheer for the same team will congregate together and feel at ease with one another since there is that commonality and shared interest. They feel accepted and therefore at ease.

While in class we broke off into groups of three to practice these rapport building skills. One person would say something and one person would mirror or mimic that person’s body language and voice while the third acted as coach. The coach would tell us how successful we were at mirroring the body language and voice and how we could improve. Then we would change rolls so each of us acted as speaker, mirror and coach. What we all discovered was that when you do mirror someone you have to be careful how you do it. If you’re too obvious about it, it can be creepy being the person mirrored. But if you’re subtle enough to get your actions past the conscious mind, you can be very successful at building rapport.

If you are interested in learning more about rapport, hypnotherapy & NLP -visit our Hypnotherapy School description page.

According to David Mason, an author of many popular inductions, the process involves a combination of suggestions, deepeners and tests for depth of trance. According to my notes, things can get confusing, quickly. After a page or two of mad scribbling, I figured the best way to keep track of the information would be in real time of a typical session. I thought if I could fit all the information I was getting from Bruce and all the material from our Hypnosis Training Manual under that simple system, I could learn more effectively.

For example, before you even start your induction, you have to “read” the client to ascertain what type of induction might work best for them. I can do this “pre-talk”, just as David Mason promotes for inductions: by suggestions, deepeners and tests. These “pre-talk” techniques we learned in an earlier class.

Then you have to build rapport. Again, I can do this with our arsenal of suggestions, deepeners and tests. For example, is a client more inclined for a passive induction or a more aggressive one? These types of questions are best answered through experience, an experience best garnered in a classroom setting. In fact, I don’t see how you could get it right without being in a hypnotherapy school.

Once we have “read” the client and established rapport, we choose an induction we have ascertained as best for the subject. As we study our selected induction in class, we notice that throughout the guided meditation or trance story, there are those same type of tests to see exactly where we are in the hypnosis process. Many of these tests are subtle, some are more direct. Now somewhere along the line, the client and I should be ready and willing to go as deep into a hypnotic state as need be to accomplish the task at hand. We have established trust and rapport. We have expectations and I have permission. I reassure along the way and introduce convincers to ensure we are right on schedule. Every client is different, and we are being shown there are vast numbers of ways how best to serve that client.
Yet once again, instead of scrambling with all the information, I organize in a progression of a successful session. I break up my session in three parts; 1. I tell the client, “We are going to go there.” 2. I assure the client that, ” We are there,” and 3. after hypnosis depth testing, ” We’re doing ______ here.” The blank is for the particular need of the client.

Another way of saying it is, 1. ” We’re going to do this.” 2. “We’re doing this.” and 3. “We’re doing this to solve ________.” Then I can put all my notes, my scripts and my guidelines under those three categories.

Sounds simple enough, but right from the start, it was obvious it was going to take a good deal of practice. Now it was time to pair off and give the sample inductions a few run-throughs with Bruce listening. I worked with a young executive type female who seemed to be inclined to respond best to a passive, quided meditation to get into a hypnotic trance. Sure enough, once I was able to get the rhythm and tone of my voice together, she was in a hypnotic state of relaxation, feeling safe and secure as I read. I knew this by noticing her responses to test questions and reassuring her that she was doing well. I also noticed her breathing and worked my speech pattern accordingly. There was also no resistance when I “slipped her a convincer.” She was obviously in a hypnotic state. How far in I couldn’t really tell because of my lack of experience. Once I brought her out of it, we switched roles, then discussed our insights on where we got it right and what needed to be improved upon. We then shared it with the whole class. The most important thing I took from school this weekend was the experience of ” I can do this,” and the knowledge that, ” This can really work.”

If you are interested in attending our college of hypnosis, please visit our College Hypnosis Training Course page.

In the newspaper business, the way you look at things is critical. Finding those little details, or a new slant on how things may appear can make or certainly break a story. In our first training class, I’m learning the same holds true. We started by discussing in detail how different people communicate differently. Not only in speech patterns, but in non-verbal communication as well. This was my introduction to the portion of our certification training known as Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP training. The first thing that really hit home was that somewhere between our study of Sensory-Specific Words and NLP Eye Accessing Cues, it became quite clear that what Bruce was teaching us in his class, I had been doing for years without knowing it! Now the guessing game is pretty much over. Not only do I now know what to look for with more certainty, but I have years of scientifically and experimentally proved data right in front of me to refer to. After just one hour of study, I could already use this systematic approach to better ‘”read people” and make it easier for all concerned to “get the best out of them.” If only my editor was here for the ride! He might very well pay for the whole course, and then some.

We paired up for first hand experience of these approaches straight away. I recall the Nurse Practitioner of the group sat next to a Cook, a Real Estate Agent with a Veterinarian, a Social Service Counselor of some sort and a Software Engineer, and then there was Theresa and myself. Theresa is a mother of three with two dogs, and apparently she can’t be hypnotized ( mentioned twice with pride). Well, we’ll see. She talked in jest (?) during everyone’s brief introduction that even though she lives in Astoria, Oregon, one reason she is taking our hypnotherapy course in Portland is to hypnotize her husband of 35 years to help finish what he starts. “He’s a big dreamer,” she said “and I love him all the more for it, but I just wish he would stick to one thing at a time and finish it. I wouldn’t even care if it flopped, just so he would have some sense of finishing what he started. And I could feel a part of it, too.” Now that’s what I would call marriage counseling at its practical best.

It’s not to late to join in!

Becoming a Hypnosis Professional in Portland Oregon  is emerging as one of the hottest professional career opportunities of this decade.

There are still just a couple seats left and it’s not to late to get caught up with the current class AND take advantage of the Partial Scholarships and Discount Plans.  [ read more ]

Professional hypnotherapy is emerging as one of the hottest professional career opportunities of this decade.

The good news for people searching for a professional opportunity in these economically challenged times is that a growing public awareness of the value and real life impact of hypnotherapy is creating a huge demand for skilled, trained professional hypnotherapists. So, whether you are just looking for a new career or you are passionate about helping people, your timing just couldn’t be better!

Seeking the assistance of hypnotherapists has long been one of the best kept secrets of high achievers and the most successful people; including doctors, lawyers, business professionals, top entertainers and sports stars. [ read more ]

Weight Loss

Weekend #8 Recap: Our training was for Hypnosis Weight Loss (a.k.a Weight Management) and it rocked plus Students had Real Breakthroughs to boot!

Students received another full weekend of top notch Hypnotherapy training from the NW Hypnosis Institute as Bruce Terrill, CI, CHt worked his magic.  The topic was weight loss and on several occasions Bruce pulled back the curtain and showed the students the inner working of what makes the NW Hypnosis Institute’s teachings so different.  Bruce not only teaches the NGH (National Guild of Hypnotists) course materials and tons of additional materials – he also uses several special techniques to instill confidence and skills that would normally take students a significant amount of time in a professional practice plus loads of practical application to achieve.  Most students in the class just enjoy learning from Bruce and don’t realize the extremely unique / world class training they are receiving… Bruce is a-ok with that, in fact he prefers it that way.

The weekend’s course materials consisted of a full Weight Management Session Checklist (below is some of what students practiced & learned):

• Establish Rapport with Client
  • rapport, rapport, rapport – you can’t help a client if you don’t have rapport.  So we practice it over and over again.
• Client Information Form
  • 4 page intake form (the basics)
• Weight Management Questionnaire
  • 12 page questionnaire
  • the “meat and potatoes” of the program
• Basic Assessment Worksheet
• Goal Setting Worksheet
• Weight Management Script
  • custom designed for each individual clients needs
• Weight Loss Contract
• Teaching Client Weight Management Autosuggestion Exercise
• Teach Client Self-Hypnosis
• Plus additional Hypnotherapy procedures, tests, steps & practice.

The single most powerful thing over the entire weekend (according to several students) was the Diagnostic Trance Process.  “The Diagnostic Trance involves an exploration of the various unconscious images and associations connected to the problem.”  It was amazing yet so simple and several students gained huge breakthroughs (and practical steps) into improving / fixing personal “problems” they practiced with.  I just love how powerful yet simple hypnotherapy is… it simply just works!  I can’t wait to hear all of the weight loss success stories from the students when we attend class two weeks from now.

If you would like to learn how to help people lose weight with hypnosis, hypnotherapy & NLP – learn more from our next Hypnotherapy Training Course.

If you are currently dealing with a weight management issue and are interested in weight loss via hypnosis, contact Bruce at (503)267-1675

February 27th, 2010 at 9am will be the beginning of our next Hypnotherapy Certification course.

We’ve had quite a bit of interest in this class and we definitely are going to have a full class this time around.

Just a reminder to all of you who haven’t signed up yet – Now is the time.  Sign up here.

SCHOLARSHIPS Still Available.