(Part 2) Top products from r/hypnosis

I recently just finished reading Behavior Modification 10e ^1, and I learned so much about how Conditioning and learning is involved in so many things we do. I believe that learning and hypnosis are related, and that hypnosis cannot persist without learning, specifically through the use of operant conditioning. For example, think back to a time you had a good subject that at first had no idea what hypnosis was. The first induction was likely used to explain what hypnosis is and how they may experience it for themselves. In doing this, you may suggest to them what they may eventually feel, in short you are creating an expectation of trance (you are making them more sensitive to hypnotic phenomena, which is a result of learning) which when you have sufficiently paced the client, some hypnotic phenomena develops, which is in response to your suggestions. If you give them effective suggestions to maintain the trance, then what you are actually doing is pairing natural functions (like breathing or awareness of certain things) with relaxation or some other desirable outcome that serves as a backup reinforcer that allows the trance state to persist. As this is reinforced, and is itself reinforcing, it gives the subject the ability to self-perpetuate the trance. This allows you the ability to suggest other things so that you can accomplish what was set out from the beginning of the session initially. (This is why pre-talks are so important, as you are using this time to associate parts of trance with desirable responses!)

And while you don't need to look into conditioning and learning to use it in practice right now, your understanding of your practice only grows the more you learn about hypnosis and the way people learn.

Another example:
You may give them a trigger to feel a little deeper or to go into a trance when they hear x or y, and every time they do this, you and the client are experiencing operant conditioning, reinforcement towards the desired response (which is initiating the behaviors that lead to the hypnotic state). The auditory cue of the word, depending on how discriminate you make the condition, will make this trigger occur more frequently or less frequently.

Hypnotic phenomena has been shown to be more easily produced in some people more easily than others. What that means varies: Because hypnosis is fixating one's attention for the purpose of achieving a goal of some kind, then there's many ways to produce hypnotic responses. Usually this can be done by finding the things they REALLY enjoy such as positive reinforcers.
People can use these as coping mechanisms, which in themselves are very reinforcing, and can be paired with other things to create higher order conditioning; to associate with a cue that may increase pleasure or produce relaxation during trance. For people whom are effective at dissociating, or those who have a strong sensitization to suggestion (prone to fantasy, are able to visualize and experience senses strongly when suggested) they may have learned to pair more senses with the things they've learned, so there's a breadth of associations themselves to produce 'hypnotic behavior' such as when reading the following sentence feeling the sensation of sucking on a lemon and the juice seeping into the taste buds on your tongue. Its a byproduct of our ability to comprehend and produce language; some of those learned words become associated with other senses and experiences. That is one reason why hypnosis is easier for some than others, whether they intended to while growing up or not. They may simply have developed specific learning strategies that encourage trance phenomena. (This can also be learned, and that is what hypnotists can try to mirror in their posture, breathing, speaking, etc. so the subject can learn through observation)

The biggest takeaway from my examples here is that hypnosis and the phenomena produced are not just a particular kind of learning, it is a multidimensional process of learning. The reinforcers and stimuli for each subject will be individualized but the goal is to learn how to apply them in a way that both parties want so that it achieves the goal of influencing the subject towards a desired outcome or away from an undesirable one.

^1 https://www.amazon.com/Behavior-Modification-What-How-Do/dp/0205992102/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1527176363&sr=8-2&keywords=behavior+modification

One more, for recommended reading. (I get no money from any links below, BTW. Look them up yourself if you wish.)

My friend Richard Nongard wrote this one, and it's excellent.
https://www.amazon.com/Hypnotize-Practice-Hypnosis-Hypnotherapy-Correctly/dp/0557097843

A nice help for learning MANY inductions, that you can then modify, and you will soon learn to do without scripts at all. https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Hypnotic-Inductions-Norton-Professional/dp/039370324X

Another friend, Dantalion Jones. He tends a bit toward megalomania, and controlling others (which is largely impossible) but just ignore that. His techniques are quite good and he explains well.
https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Control-Hypnosis-Without-Suggestion-ebook/dp/B00LP0WYOE

I recommend virtually anything from Igor Ledochowski, the #1 hypnotist trainer. He's even better than me!
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=igor+ledochowski&ref=sr_gnr_aps

Jay Tee
http://zapmymind.com

Any book that take a scientific look on how we perceive and integrate stimulu. (Here is my choice).

Any Oliver Sacks book. Understanding the broken brain is a very good tool to get the healthy one.(start with this one)

There is that Crash Course Psychology.

For me it's a good to understand what are attention and perception, what is it to learn and the importance of working memory. You can get all that without understanding memory, but it would be interesting to.

It can be cool to have a general idea of when our brain use shortcut because it's important not to waste energy.

And then for the social side of it welcome to the field of influence.

For a bit of history, the declassified documents are on the source section.

I'd recommend the book Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming to learn how to have lucid dreams, a classic and full of useful exercises.

Fantasizing about having romantic relations with a famous person vividly is but one possibility with lucid dreaming, and far from the most interesting or powerful.

1. In Trances People Live by Stephen Wolinsky he sees the therapeutic trance as the same as certain meditative states. So I'm extrapolating that OP may already have the tools to access other meditative states. I remember listening to an interview with Harry Nichols and Igor Ledochowski about achieving deep trance states. But you need membership to listen to the actual deep trance inductions etc. Anyway, having not done it myself I would imagine you'd verbally guide yourself to the intended state just the same as guiding someone into other trance states like "ultra-height", "trance of infinite possibility", or that very deep trance Elman describes in "Hypnotherapy".
   
   
2. mind games. I have the first edition. Apparently the second edition has sections on how to structure and lead a mind games session. I think that would be valuable because the 1st edition is kind of just a series of scripts without much explanation as to what the goal is, what the goal of the book is, or how to troubleshoot a session.

Since you're interested in the science of self-hypnosis, Adam Eason wrote a whole book on it.
https://smile.amazon.com/Science-Self-Hypnosis-Evidence-Hypnotise-Yourself-ebook/dp/B00GTVR7B4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=adam+eason+science+self-hypnosis&qid=1564319199&s=gateway&sr=8-1


And while I could argue why I think self-hypnosis is viable and try to change your mind, I don't really need to. There are clinical trials (some completed, some ongoing) using self-hypnosis: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?cond=&term=self-hypnosis&cntry=&state=&city=&dist=


And PubMed yields 335 results using self-hypnosis as a keyword search:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=self-hypnosis


Not to mention numerous reports of major surgery being performed using hypnosis (some self-hypnosis, some more standard hypnosis) instead of, or in conjunction with, anesthesia:
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/surgery-under-hypnosis/


As for hypnosis require both an operator and a subject, there are a number of prominent working hypnotists who would disagree with you. I mean, Milton Erickson was a pretty prominent name in the field and he endorsed his own wife Betty Erickson's technique for self-hypnosis (namely The Betty Erickson Special) which presupposes he believed hypnosis could be done with oneself. It's not about a quick fix or a shortcut, and it's certainly not a band-aid. It's about engaging with your unconscious, and it can be more about ongoing maintenance or ongoing change. But for the sake of this thread, I would probably just defer to the weight of the evidence in the clinical trials, scholarly articles, case studies, reports, and Adam's book.

For erotic play with couples, I thoroughly recommend Mind Play by MarK Wiseman. It will answer a lot of your questions, give you some techniques and give you the basics to enjoy hypnosis in a relationship. Binaural beats aren't necessary.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Play-Guide-Erotic-Hypnosis/dp/1484841034

again i don’t know if this is anywhere near helpful to you, but go read the synopsis of this book. if it appeals to you, then you might find those feelings go away when you regain control and order over your life, instead of letting life control you.

it worked well to change how i feel about those small, daily tasks as well as monumental, overwhelming goals.

Bullet Journal Method - Ryder Carroll

Very insightful and I agree. The way we speak definitely is the way we think. NLP is large on this factor and I believe Monsters and Magical Sticks and Hypnotherapy looks extensively of "mental maps".

Here is something similar on my blog about these Input/output systems we use to navigate our environment.

I think the best resources are the people actually doing scientific research. Irving Kirsch, the Cold Control theory people, and The Oxford Handbook of Hypnosis--which is really expensive and really difficult to read, so see if your can borrow or download it before you buy.

Richard Bandler - The Adventures of Anybody

I have an exceedingly old book which I have found useful, but there are probably more recent resources.

Here is the author page at Amazon my book is this one.

Not a file, but you might want to give this book a try - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Mastery-Through-Conscious-Autosuggestion/dp/1406893927/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479502784&sr=8-1&keywords=emil+coue

Made me think of a recent thread which referred to this topic:

https://www.reddit.com/r/hypnosis/comments/594lig/hypnosis_books_hypnotic_influence_by_teppo/dezkfnj/

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The author pulled their book on Hypnosis and rebranded.

Here's the book:

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Influence-Increase-Without-Bullying/dp/069283916X

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How Master Self Hypnosis Weekend by Rick Smith.

He teaches you self hypnosis while you are hypnotized.