The Hypnotic Pacing Of Current Experience

 

 

 

Hypnotic pacing is a statement about a patient's actual experience that they know is true. It can then be linked to a suggestion or an idea that is not directly verifiable but which is vague enough to be interpreted as true. The linked suggestion gains credibility by association.


Normally you would start with mostly pacing statements and then add the occasional hypnotic suggestion. The more that a trance state develops and the patient's experience becomes more internal, then the fewer hypnotic pacing statements are required.
For example:


'You are sitting there, aware of your arms resting at your sides, listening carefully to my voice and going deeper and deeper into a state of hypnotic trance.'