Needing Help w/ Asperger's Syndrome Hypnotizing

[Kingfisher]

Hello, Everyone. I am new here. I am posting this message here and to a few Yahoo groups because I have a problem that someone might be able to help me with. I have been using the services if an online hypnotist (using Yahoo IM) for over a year. I am interested in trance as
entertainment primarily with possibly some self-improvement added in. However, while other people using my hypnotist's services have successfully experienced fantasies in trance, post-hypnotic suggestion, and hallucinations, I have not. Besides having a trance trigger, vague dream suggestions, and perhaps a faint tactile hallucination that I had to work at to feel, I have not experienced any of those things. I can be put in trance butit is easy for me to get out of trance again.

On thing that probably explains my difficulties is that I have Asperger's Syndrome. I have noted that another person posted about AS, buit my questiuon is a littlke different. For those who do not know, AS is a condition some say is a mild form of autism, and my Asperger's is mild Asperger's . But even though it is mild my hypnotist has said hypnosis is very hard for people with Asperger's and that I may not be able to have the kind of fun some of her other clients do. Not merely right away but possibly at all. She is skilled and well informed, but we have both decided to ask around for information abouty hypnotizing people with Asperger's in case there is something she has missed.

Do any of you know of any techniques that are particularly successful with people with Asperger's Syndrome or anyone who has had success with hypnotizing people with Asperger's Syndrome (although I assume someone would have mentioned that to the last AS poster) to the level of hallucinations? I would appreciate any leads.

[Jack]

What is Asperger's again?

[dharden]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger's_syndrome might (or might not) be useful.

[sandy82]

A Google search for <<Asperger's + syndrome>> yields interesting sites among the first 20 of 544,000 hits. Dharden's wikipedia citation is among them.

Also, the Asperger Disorder Hompage, with numerous articles and references:

http://www.aspergers.com/

[Jack]

Alright, more specific question. Exactly how does Asperger's manifest in you, Kingfisher?

[GekoTrek]

Hello, Everyone. I am new here. I am posting this message here and to a few Yahoo groups because I have a problem that someone might be able to help me with. I have been using the services if an online hypnotist (using Yahoo IM) for over a year. I am interested in trance as
entertainment primarily with possibly some self-improvement added in. However, while other people using my hypnotist's services have successfully experienced fantasies in trance, post-hypnotic suggestion, and hallucinations, I have not.

Hey

I also have AS, and I am wanting to start being tranced, but am not sure how to go about it as the files don't seem to work. Should I be using the services of a hypnotist online, do you reckon?

Cheers.

[Jack]

As I understand it, GekoTrek, AS can manifest in a myriad of ways. May I ask the same question of you that I asked of Kingfisher? And that is: What symptoms of AS do you display? If you find yourself willing to share this information publicly, please post a response so that the advice may flow copiously... Otherwise, you can send me a PM and I'll give you what advice I can.

Notice: I am not a doctor of medicine or a psychologist/psychiatrist. I am, however, willing to provide you with advice as to what hypnotic methods to follow/seek out in your quest down such a path as this.

[Kingfisher]

First, one other Asperger's web site is http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/

Now, as for the aspects of AS that could be hurting my hypnosis, here is what I can see. (A few of these might be peculiar to me; I am new to knowing the AS diagnosis. I started trying to be hypnotized before I knew about AS).

The biggest problem is that is is hard for me to focus. I can focus enough to get into trance but going deep enough to have the hallucinations and other things I am trying for is hard. My mind is easily distracted in those circumstances. I should point out that I can focus on something intently. But those are times when I am so intent on focusing that I am not thinking about having to focus. Hypnosis gives my a lot of time to think about focusing. The fact that I know the goal is to focus on thoughts makes me notice scattered thoughts and leads to more scattering. Or perhaps I should call it focusing on the stream of consciousness, which would be focusing on the wrong thing to enter (or the trur problem for me) stay in trance.

Another problem is the mental rigidity associated with AS. I do not have a problem imagining as some do. But I have two problems. First, because I have not been hypnotized to the level of having hallucinations etc -- i know they are the hardest -- I have a resistance and a fear of it, even though I want it. It is unfamiliar territory and I am therefore wary. Second, when I am asked a question like "Any thoughts left?" or "Can you feel. ..?" I lock up. Did I feel something or just pretend to feel because I wanted to? Could i only feel it for a moment? Could I feel it any more than if i were imaging it out of trance? My rigid need to answer accurately makes me lock up while at the same time, it makes me think, question myself. I have specifically had problems with "Any thoughts left?" bemuse my hypnotist has said that there still are thoughts of a sort even at the depths of hypnosis. That confuses me and may be an example of literal thinking.

I do not know if this is Asperger's related, but I am also uncomfortable with images of my mind being controlled. Reminders that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis do help, but that is a problem that I will have to overcome to experience the fun I believe trance can hold.

I do not know if this has an effect or not, but I have been told that when I am particularly focused on some thing I appear less aware of other people's emotional states. If I am boring them for example. When I am not as intent I am pretty good at gauging emotions, unlike some with AS. I cannot tell how that would affect my hypnosis sessions, but it seems an important aspect of my AS.

To let you know, my hypnotist and I communicate with IM. I have tried a few audio files and experienced some of the focus problems i mentioned above and had not had success. However I have had my hypnotist successfully suggest subjects for dreams that lasted up to three successive nights. So trance at some level does work got me. But I would like to get deeper.

I will add more as I realize or remember it.

[Jack]

What are you wanting to utilize hypnosis for?

The biggest problem is that is is hard for me to focus. I can focus enough to get into trance but going deep enough to have the hallucinations and other things I am trying for is hard. My mind is easily distracted in those circumstances. I should point out that I can focus on something intently. But those are times when I am so intent on focusing that I am not thinking about having to focus. Hypnosis gives my a lot of time to think about focusing. The fact that I know the goal is to focus on thoughts makes me notice scattered thoughts and leads to more scattering. Or perhaps I should call it focusing on the stream of consciousness, which would be focusing on the wrong thing to enter (or the trur problem for me) stay in trance.

Tell your hypnotist to utilize your behaviour to help you go deeper during their induction and throughout the session. It doesn't matter to me where you focus your attention, so long as you focus it somewhere. If your hypnotist told you something like the following you would soon find yourself in somnambulism. "That's right.. and the more you allow yourself to.. focus on those thoughts.. the more you will find yourself.. honestly relaxing.. and really.. really beginning to.. enjoying the feeling of going deeper.. and deeper into.. trance." Or "With each thought.. you notice.. you will go twice as deep.. as you were the moment before.. until you find yourself.. as deep as.. you can go during this session."

Another problem is the mental rigidity associated with AS. I do not have a problem imagining as some do. But I have two problems. First, because I have not been hypnotized to the level of having hallucinations etc -- i know they are the hardest -- I have a resistance and a fear of it, even though I want it. It is unfamiliar territory and I am therefore wary. Second, when I am asked a question like "Any thoughts left?" or "Can you feel. ..?" I lock up. Did I feel something or just pretend to feel because I wanted to? Could i only feel it for a moment? Could I feel it any more than if i were imaging it out of trance? My rigid need to answer accurately makes me lock up while at the same time, it makes me think, question myself. I have specifically had problems with "Any thoughts left?" bemuse my hypnotist has said that there still are thoughts of a sort even at the depths of hypnosis. That confuses me and may be an example of literal thinking.

Answer these questions for yourself.. What color are your mothers eyes? How does her voice sound when she's angry with you? How does/did it feel when she kisses/kissed you on the forehead/cheek? How do you know these things? ..If you answered those questions for yourself, you just went through and had a visual hallucination, an auditory hallucination, and a kinesthetic hallucination, in that order. Whether or not you know that consciously doesn't matter. Also, that "locking up" as you described it is a momentary somnambulistic trance. If your hypnotist utilized that for your purposes, that would be great. If I were your hypnotist I might ask you "I wonder if you don't know which of your hands isn't going to not begin to lift towards your face first, do you?" Or something like that, just to link that somnambulism to something else to continue it beyond the question.

I do not know if this is Asperger's related, but I am also uncomfortable with images of my mind being controlled. Reminders that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis do help, but that is a problem that I will have to overcome to experience the fun I believe trance can hold.

There are many methods to go around this so called "resistance". Your hypnotist can utilize it, reframe it, or railroad it. From the available information, I would probably go with utilizing your response or reframing it. Most likely, reframing would be easiest, but utilization would be more thorough.

I do not know if this has an effect or not, but I have been told that when I am particularly focused on some thing I appear less aware of other people's emotional states. If I am boring them for example. When I am not as intent I am pretty good at gauging emotions, unlike some with AS. I cannot tell how that would affect my hypnosis sessions, but it seems an important aspect of my AS.

Yet another trance state. Go you. What you're speaking of fits a definition of trance. Namely: a state where attention is turned inwards.

To let you know, my hypnotist and I communicate with IM. I have tried a few audio files and experienced some of the focus problems i mentioned above and had not had success. However I have had my hypnotist successfully suggest subjects for dreams that lasted up to three successive nights. So trance at some level does work got me. But I would like to get deeper.

I don't believe your problem is with AS or with depth of trance. I think your problem was with being convinced of the validity of your experience. Since that appears to be the case to me, the following are some things you can become aware of the next time you are being hypnotized that will let you know that you are indeed in a trance. A change in lacrimation(eyes watering more/less than normal); Your extremities will become warmer(feet/toes, hands/fingers.. also an indication of level of relaxation); You will either become increasingly aware of your kinesthetics, or your awareness of your kinesthetics will decrease. Those are just three general signs. For more signs you can allow yourself to become progressively aware of any other changes that occur in your experience when you notice the signs I've given you.

[Kingfisher]

Another thing my hypnotist reminded me of was that I have dificulty visualizing things. Or at least putting those visuals over my body. I have an easier time making myself feel a portion of a halucinasted body. And even that takes effort to feel.

Jack, Im curtious about what you said. Are these techniques that you are suggesting ones that you have used or have been used on you? Are they techniques that you have seen/heard work on others?

I could imagine that even if they did work with me, I would still have dificulty leaving the ldeasdlocked questions you would use to hypnotize me and moving on to a fantasy or a hallucination. Is that a plausible risk? If so, anything to help with that? (I have yet to receove comments on your suggestions from my hypnotist.)

I must admit it does seem hard to believe that my inability to avoid noticing the shiftintg stream of consciousness during trance is a sign of being tranced itself. I thought trance involved getting below the stream. It seems too chaotic and unfocused to allow soemone constantly distracted by it to be in trance. Thoughts may start out being close to what my hypnotuist has said, but they easily become less and less conected to the suggestions. Also my ability to focus on something to a degree that you consider to be trance (which does make sense to me) seems to work best when I am not trying or even thinking about the posibility of trying to be hypnotized. I am regulary aware of the fact that my goal is to go into deep trance while in hypnosis. I cannot imagine how not to notice that. Any siggestionns that would help me use that ability?

[Jack]

Another thing my hypnotist reminded me of was that I have dificulty visualizing things. Or at least putting those visuals over my body. I have an easier time making myself feel a portion of a halucinasted body. And even that takes effort to feel.

Have you made an effort to build a representation of what you want to see your body as inside of your mind, turn that representation until it is facing away from you, and then step inside of it allowing yourself to see what that body sees, feel what that body feels, hear what that body hears, and speak as that body speaks? This is an exercise for shifting referencial index.

Jack, Im curtious about what you said. Are these techniques that you are suggesting ones that you have used or have been used on you? Are they techniques that you have seen/heard work on others?

All of the above.

I could imagine that even if they did work with me, I would still have dificulty leaving the ldeasdlocked questions you would use to hypnotize me and moving on to a fantasy or a hallucination. Is that a plausible risk? If so, anything to help with that? (I have yet to receove comments on your suggestions from my hypnotist.)

Question, what was your experience as you read my last post on this thread? If you didn't respond after I asked you that question in the way that I ask you to, I would make a statement that has the same meaning/effect as the question, and add to it a bridging statement that would lead you into what I wanted. Or apply one(or more) of an infinite number of choices.

I must admit it does seem hard to believe that my inability to avoid noticing the shiftintg stream of consciousness during trance is a sign of being tranced itself. I thought trance involved getting below the stream. It seems too chaotic and unfocused to allow soemone constantly distracted by it to be in trance. Thoughts may start out being close to what my hypnotuist has said, but they easily become less and less conected to the suggestions. Also my ability to focus on something to a degree that you consider to be trance (which does make sense to me) seems to work best when I am not trying or even thinking about the posibility of trying to be hypnotized. I am regulary aware of the fact that my goal is to go into deep trance while in hypnosis. I cannot imagine how not to notice that. Any siggestionns that would help me use that ability?

In NLP they would call what you're talking about as being in meta position to your conscious processes, which is also a trance that can be used to lead to whatever you want to experience. I read a book about Milton Erickson one time, and in that book Milton had a man come in. Now, this guy kept talking and talking. So, Milton, being the person he was, decided to utilize this guys behaviour. He would direct his attention to this and that lying around the room, until he got the job done. If you want to read the story, I believe it's in Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton Erickson, volume 1. Another definition for "trance" is: any state of consciousness other than that individuals normal state.