My Friend John Hypnosis Induction

My Friend John Induction Script

My Friend John is a powerful hypnotic technique. It is simple and flexible. It is perfect for overcoming resistance. Use this script with any client who is analytical or suspicious of hypnotism. There are a lot of people like that. In fact, they are afraid of losing control, and won't go into trance because not being in control all the time makes them feel uncomfortable.

My Friend John is often used when a standard hypnotic induction is not working. If you see that your subject is not going under, then just switch to this induction. It is particularly effective with teenagers, who often think they are too smart to be taken in by hypnosis. They don't like authority and will resist direct inductions.

The My Friend John sneaks the induction past their critical mind. Tell them you are not doing hypnosis: you just want them to try a visualization exercise. Say you just want them to listen to what you say, and repeat it. Nothing threatening about that, is there? Most people are intrigued, and happy to try it out. What they don't realize is that they will guide themselves into trace without even realizing it.

The My Friend John is attributed to Milton Erickson. He introduced the idea of gentle, persuasive hypnotic inductions. Before Erickson's time inductions were either uncomfortable, like the Eye Fixation Induction, or theatrical like the Hand Lift induction, or violent and involved startling the subject by yelling 'SLEEP' at them unexpectedly.

Erickson used subtle wording and imagery to get the client to forget about him for a moment and instead allow their attention to drift away, following what he was saying about something else. These became know as Indirect Hypnosis, and ultimately as Conversational Hypnosis.

It is amazing how, with the right indirect technique, even the most difficult client will just slip away after a few sentences.

My Friend John is indirect, but actually is a self induction.  The listener pretends to be a hypnotist by repeating everything the hypnotist says. But the process of repeating the hypnotic instructions puts the hypnotic ideas into their mind and thinking about relaying the suggestions causes them to go into trance. It is very effective. It is not only good for clients with a busy mind, it is good for all subjects. Many professional hypnotists use it on every client.

You should learn the My Friend John routine and practice it with a non-analytical person first. Then you will be ready to switch to it for your next difficult client.