Pain or Pleasure in Hypnosis?

By Barrie St John

In both my self hypnosis recordings and in my one-on-one hypnotherapy sessions, I will often describe feelings of pain and of pleasure. Some people are motivated more by pain. When they experience discomfort they are prompted to move in the other direction. Others are motivated more by pleasure. In this case they tend to go after the “dangling carrot” or in other words, all the good things that can come with a move in that direction. Many people, of course, are motivated by a little bit of both.

For instance, if I feel that a person is motivated by pain and the issue of the hypnosis session is dealing with is smoking (see the stop smoking hypnosis session), I might bring up the dire physical and emotional consequences that continuing smoking is likely to bring about. If I see that the person is better motivated by reward or pleasure, I might focus the hypnosis on the benefits stopping smoking might bring them and their family, such as health, happiness, and quality of life.

Not all hypnosis requires the use of pain or pleasure as motivators, but sessions that are geared specifically toward behavioural change do tend to include them in some form. Getting people motivated is not an exact process; it varies from person to person. In my self hypnosis recordings I paint pictures using both pain and pleasure in order to reach each individual’s centre of motivation.

When I talk about using pain, I’m not talking about slapping someone on the wrist. I’m talking about reminding people during hypnosis of the possible negative consequences they face in continuing their destructive behaviour. Of course, the use of pleasure as a motivator is a much more enjoyable hypnotic experience. This involves simply reminding people of all the potential benefits available to them and asking them to imagine what their life could be like if they were to choose that path.

Presenting both pain and pleasure during hypnosis allows the person to choose which their biggest motivator is. No one is going to be hurt or scared by listening to any of my self hypnosis recordings. Pain and pleasure use in hypnosis is based on traditional psychology. When I talk of using pain and pleasure in hypnosis, I’m speaking merely of the imagination of potential outcomes.

HypnoShop Recommends: As mentioned in this article, the use of pain and pleasure is used for behavioural changes, particularly addictions such as the stop smoking hypnosis session or the alcohol addiction hypnosis session, both available as self hypnosis CDs or hypnosis downloads.

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