One of the first considerations in undertaking [tag-tec]hypnosis[/tag-tec] centers around the differentiation of the patient´s experience of having a trance induced from the experience of being in a trance state, that is, trance induction from the trance state. As an analogy, the train trip to the city is one order of experience; being in the city is another.

To continue, the process of inducing a trance should be regarded as a method of teaching subjects a new manner of learning something, and thereby enabling them to discover unrealized capacities to learn, and to act in new ways which may be applied to other and different things. The importance of trance induction as an educational procedure in acquainting subjects with their latent abilities has been greatly disregarded.

Both the [tag-ice]hypnotist[/tag-ice] and the subject need to make this differentiation, the former in order to guide the subject´s behavior more effectively, the latter in order to learn to distinguish between conscious and unconscious behavior patterns. During trance induction the patient´s behavior is comprised of both conscious and unconscious patterns, while the behavior of the trance state should be primarily of unconscious origin. The failure of such distinction or differentiation between the induction and the trance often results in hypnotic subjects attempting to perform the work of the trance state in the same fashion as they learned to develop a trance. That is, without proper differentiation, subjects will utilize both [tag-ice]conscious[/tag-ice] and [tag-ice]unconscious[/tag-ice] behavior in the trance instead of relying primarily upon unconscious patterns of behavior. This leads to inadequate, faulty task performance.

Although subjects can, and frequently do, make this distinction spontaneously, the responsibility, though often overlooked, rests properly with the hypnotist. To ensure such differentiation, the trance induction should be emphasized as a preparation of the patient for another type of experience in which new learnings will be utilized for other purposes and in a different way. This education of subjects can be achieved best, as experience has shown, by teaching them how to become good hypnotic subjects, familiar with all types of hypnotic phenomena. This should be done before any attempt is made at [tag-ice]hypnosis[/tag-ice] session.

Such training, while it postpones the initiation of direct therapy, actually hastens the progress of therapy since it gives the subject wider opportunities for self-expression. For example, the subject who can develop hypnotic hallucinations, both visual and auditory, manifest regressive behavior, do automatic writing, act upon posthypnotic suggestions, and dream upon command is in an advantageous position for the reception of therapy.

As for the trance state itself, this should be regarded as a special, unique, but wholly normal [tag-ice]psychological[/tag-ice] state. It resembles sleep only superficially, and it is characterized by various physiological concomitants, and by a functioning of the personality at a level of awareness other than the ordinary or usual state of awareness. For convenience in conceptualization, this special state, or level of awareness, has been termed “unconscious” or “subconscious.” The role in hypnotic psychotherapy of this special state of awareness is that of permitting and enabling subjects to react, uninfluenced by their conscious mind, to their past experiential life and to a new order of experience which is about to occur as they participate in the therapeutic procedure. This participation in therapy by the patients constitutes the primary requisite for effective results.