This content is made with your help! Give feedback?

Freely printed from: https://learn.nimja.com/basics/in_person_vs_online

In person vs online

There are some differences to in person vs online hypnosis sessions with someone. The limitations of each medium also work in their favor.

Most of your tools work just fine for both and most of the ideas on this site can easily be used through whatever medium.

What medium do you need to hypnotize?

All you need to do hypnosis is to communicate intent.

As long as the other person understands your intent, you can do hypnosis with text, tone, expressions, mime, sign language, etc. It's only limited by what the subject, the receiver of the hypnosis can grasp.

This is also why it's important to adjust your language to the subject and the moment.

Unique to in person

Touch or directly adjust someone

Obviously you can only touch or physically adjust someone if you are in person. Tactile/texture inductions and instructions tend to work very well for most people. This also requires consent and discussing in advance.

Using scents

While not the easiest thing to do, using (subtle) perfumes or other scents during certain moments can be a lot of fun. Not to mention that the feeling of a "spray of sweet-smelling mist" towards someone can aid in certain illusions.

Walking around someone

Changing where your voice/instructions are coming from is something that is possible with recordings and binaural microphones. Although it often has a much stronger effect in person. Touching or talking from a different direction is a nice way to keep someone reactive.

Circles of intimacy

This is related to: social penetration theory. Basically the closer you are to someone physically, the closer they experience you emotionally.

This can be used to play with the feeling of connection or disconnection.

Aftercare or sudden help

It's more easy to help someone not fall/hurt themselves, get them much-needed hydration, blankets and/or other needs they might have. It is still important to discuss these needs during the pre-talk.

Unique to online

In your safe space

Because the subject cannot be touched directly, it also means that this provides a certain level of comfort. Similarly, they can hang up whenever they like. This additional agency and privacy can be helpful.

Note on recording online sessions

Recording in any form (video or audio) requires informed consent!

Because a call is easier to record than a meeting in person, it can be a possibility to allow for later review. It can make it easier to discuss things that went well or not. Or of course you can keep it just to look back at. However, again, this requires informed consent before you start the recording.

Pre-talk checklist

Some things that are (more) important when doing online sessions.:

Calibration challenges

Because you have a smaller window to see the person, it can be helpful to ask if you can at least see their shoulders.

On a camera, expressions and eye movements are often harder to see.

The tools we use are features

For example, the camera used to make the call possible can also be suggested to do more (scan their mind/thoughts) or be seen by more. The limited frame can also be used, to make things appear and disappear.

Headphones make the hypnotist's voice be almost directly in their mind. And what else might be layered into that?

Both camera and headphones also make it possible to add things, like sound effects, reverb, spirals, etc. to what you send.

The presence of the internet can also become a tool. How your thoughts are being 'beamed' into their mind. Or other technical/sci-fi tricks.

Also be aware that because these tools are there, it is helpful to alleviate concerns related to recording. Recording in any form (video or audio) requires informed consent!

Unique to text

Text trances have even less feedback than audio/visual, so you're more dependent on how they respond. A few things that work really well with text trances:

Increasing spelling mistakes in their replies can be a sign of depth. Most people tend to be more relaxed/unrealizing of those kinds of errors.
Also, it can be important to remind the subject to blink, as staring intently at text for a long time makes people forget that.

Unique to recordings

Hypnotic audio/video recordings are quite plentiful and while limited in some ways, they have advantages that not everyone is aware of.

Mostly, because a file is unchanging, there is no expectation and no pressure. Nobody else is watching and someone can enjoy it in whatever way they like. It's also available whenever they want and can be paused/stopped freely.