The Hypnotic Seal

The Hypnotic Seal A Practical Guide By SE Hamlyn Smashwords Edition

Table of Contents The Hypnotic Seal A Practical Guide Copyright Preface Who this book is for How to get the most out of this book Customer support Reader feedback Errata Piracy Questions Problems Thank You Part 1 - Introducing the Hypnotic Seal Chapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 2 - Prerequisites Chapter 3 - What is the Hypnotic Seal? Chapter 4 - A Brief History of the Hypnotic Seal Chapter 5 - Ethics Chapter 6 - Why seals are bad? Chapter 7 - Introduction to the Types and Families of Seals The Entry Seal The Exit Seal The Suggestion Rejection Seal The Communication Seal The Self-Seal Part 2 - The Hypnotic Seal Family Chapter 8 - The Common Seals Chapter 9 - The Entry Seal Chapter 10 - The Exit Seal Chapter 11 - The Communication Seal Chapter 12 - Ignore Suggestions Seal Chapter 13 - Self-Seal Chapter 14 - Rare Seals The Seal Behaviours Part 3 - Hypnotic Seal Detection and Recognition Chapter 15 - Detecting and Recognising a Seal Use some common sense Chapter 16 - Detecting the Entry Seal Chapter 17 - Detecting the Exit Seal Chapter 18 - Detecting the Communication Seal Chapter 19 - Detecting the Ignore Suggestions Seal Part 4 - How Hypnotic Seals Are Installed Chapter 20 - Establishing a seal Chapter 21 - To establish an Entry Seal Chapter 22 - To Establish an Exit Seal Putting the Exit Seal in place Chapter 23 - To Establish the Ignore Suggestions Seal Chapter 24 - To Establish a Communication Seal Chapter 25 - Using Seals used for Training Purposes

Installing a Training Seal Removing the training seal Chapter 26 - Additional Notes On Installing Seals Compounding Build up the emotion Amnesia Caveats Part 5 - Removing a Hypnotic Seal Chapter 27 - Breaking Seals Some basic information Do not assume you know who installed the seal Indirection Regression Chapter 28 - Breaking the Entry Seal Using Indirection Enhancements Chapter 29 - Breaking the Exit Seal Some additional techniques and ideas Chapter 30 - Breaking the Communication Seal Indirection Why does this technique work? Indirection - Variation 1 Indirection - Variation 2 Indirection - Variation 3 Indirection - Variation 4 Attention Span and Focus of Attention Breaking the Communication Seal itself Chapter 31- Breaking the Ignore Suggestions Seal Chapter 32 - Breaking the Self-Seal Chapter 33 - Breaking the Seal - Some Alternative Methods Dave Elman Instant Induction Instant Regression Multiple Hypnotists Contradiction or Conflict Method Anchor Collapse The Ambiguous Touch Handshake The Hand-To-Face Handshake Induction Utilisation Confusion Chapter 34 - Hints and Tips Dealing with amnesia Waking suggestion Waking hypnosis NLP Anchor Collapse Fast Phobia Cure Swish technique Metaphor Autosuggestion and Self-Hypnosis Audio recording Self-Recording

Off the Shelf Recordings Custom Made Recordings Chapter 35 - Trigger Words and Phrases Longevity of suggestions Suggestion Reinforcement Key phrases and triggers Key phrases used with Entry Seals Key phrases used in Exit Seals Sneaky Phrases and Words Behaviours and responses (triggered post-hypnotic suggestions) Chapter 36 - Even More Techniques Convince the client you are qualified Regression EIR - Emotionally Induced Regression Repetition Instant / Shock induction Part 6 - Additional Information and Final Thoughts Chapter 37 - Controversies The tale of the Arrogant Stage Hypnotist Hypnotic Couriers and Secret-message passing Splitting a person into multiple personalities CIA / MK Ultra - Assassin protocol Derren Brown - “Assassin” - Television Program Carla Emery - “Secret, Don’t Tell” Sirhan Sirhan & The Assassination Of Robert Kennedy Chapter 38 - Final Thoughts Additional Information Conclusions and summary Entry Seal Exit Seal Communication Seal, Ignore Suggestions or Invisible Hypnotist Seals Regression Becoming a seal breaking expert Chapter 39 - Bibliography Chapter 40 - Author Biography Chapter 41 - Errata Chapter - Index

The Hypnotic Seal Copyright © 2012 by SE Hamlyn Smashwords Edition First Edition All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced nor transmitted by any means nor in any form, including electronic, mechanical, and physical; including photography, photocopying, recording, digitisation, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher. The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty, either express or implied. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author(s) nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly through the use of the information contained in this work. This work is published with the understanding that the publisher and its authors are providing information, and are not attempting to render professional services. If such services are required, the assistance of an appropriate professional should be sought. This is an electronic version of the print textbook. Because of electronic rights restrictions, some content may be suppressed. Any content that may have been suppressed does not affect the overall content. The publisher has endeavoured to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, the publisher cannot guarantee the full accuracy of this information. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we are using the names for editorial purpose only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Any organization or website referred to in this work as a citation or as a potential source of additional information does not mean that the author, or the publisher, endorses that information. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information contained in this book with other sources.

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Preface ~~~~~~~~~

Who this book is for This book is for anybody interested in learning about the Hypnotic Seal. The book outlines what the seal is, what the seal in not, where the seal has come from, how to detect a seal, with the main-focus steered towards seal removal. This book has been written to be of general interest to all readers. It should be of particular interest to trainee hypnotists, hypnotists, hypnosis trainers, and hypnotists’ clients who may want to know and learn more about the hypnotic seal. This book contains sections that include: - Historic information about the hypnotic seal - Considerations regarding the ethics of the hypnotic seal - Exploration of the different families and types of hypnotic seal - Examination of the post-hypnotic behaviours often used with hypnotic seals - Suggestions and outlines for hypnotic seal installation (aimed at hypnosis trainers) - Information about how to detect a hypnotic seal - How to remove a hypnotic seal - Additional hypnotic-seal removal techniques - Some controversial uses of the hypnotic seal - A bibliography where the reader can get further information ~~~~~~~~~

How to get the most out of this book The book refers to hypnosis techniques and methods, and it is assumed that the reader is familiar with the general principles of hypnotism and associated techniques. Familiarity with the general principles of hypnosis will allow the reader to get the most value from this book. Although this book does provide enhancements for many hypnotic techniques, processes, and inductions, this book does not intend to teach the fundamentals of hypnotism, and hypnosis techniques. With regard to general hypnotism, while some of the general hypnosis related information is in this book is quite detailed, this book should not be considered as a substitute for learning the general techniques used in hypnosis. Rather, you should consider the information in this book as adding to your existing knowledge of hypnosis. If the reader is not already familiar with the general techniques used in hypnosis, then the reader

will need to read further into hypnotism to fully appreciate the nuances of the techniques used and described within the book. ~~~~~~~~~

Customer support Now that you are the proud owner of this book, we have a number of things to help you get the most from your investment. Occasionally, we provide additional supporting material for download off our accompanying website. Supporting materials are available at two levels. Firstly, publicly available supporting materials and downloads. Secondly, book-specific supporting materials that are only available to buyers of the title. ~~~~~~~~~

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Errata We have taken great care to ensure the accuracy and correctness of the content of our materials; however, mistakes do occasionally happen. If you find a mistake or an error in any of our books or materials, we would be grateful if you would report them to us. By reporting these errors, you will save other readers from the same frustrations and help us improve subsequent revisions of the book. If you find any errata, please report them by visiting our website and sending the details of the

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Problems If you are having a problem with one of our books, we will do our best to address it. If you are having problems with the purchase of one of our titles, then in the first instance, contact the seller directly. ~~~~~~~~~

Thank You Thank you for purchasing this book. We hope that you enjoy reading it, and that it adds to your knowledge and expertise with regard to the Hypnotic Seal.

If you begged, borrowed, copied, or stole this copy, we would ask that you give an equivalent donation (to the original cover price) to a registered charity. It means that while our author may be financially out-of-pocket, there will be others who will receive some benefit. *****

Part 1 - Introducing the Hypnotic Seal ~~~~~~~~~ This section introduces the Hypnotic Seal and gives a brief history of the seal, and introduces the reader to some ethical issues concerning the use of Hypnotic Seals. *****

Chapter 1 - Introduction ~~~~~~~~~ Often, there is much myth, mystery, fear and misinformation surrounding the Hypnotic Seal, for both the hypnotist and their clients alike. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. The Hypnotic Seal is neither mysterious nor to be feared. This book: - Is, in essence, a guide to recognising and removing Hypnotic Seals - Dispels the myths surrounding the Hypnotic Seal - Describes the different types and variations of Hypnotic Seal - Educates the reader about many of the ‘seal placing’ and ‘seal breaking’ techniques - Explains how to recognize different types of Hypnotic Seal - Offers a range of different techniques and approaches that can be used to defeat and (more important) remove Hypnotic Seals The content is suitable for anyone who is interested in hypnosis, and will be of particular interest to the working hypnotist, hypnotists’ clients, and hypnosis trainers, and it is hoped that the content will also introduce the reader to new ideas, techniques, and solutions that are not commonly known or generally available. *****

Chapter 2 - Prerequisites ~~~~~~~~~ The reader is expected to be familiar with hypnosis and associated techniques. For those planning to use some or all of these seal related techniques, then you should already be familiar with the various components of the hypnotic process, including: - Pre-induction interview - Pre-talk - Induction techniques - Deepening techniques - Emerging - Suggestion - Post-hypnotic suggestion - Post-hypnotic interview - Hypnotic levels - in particular somnambulism, profound somnambulism, Esdail - Compounding - Revivification - Abreactions The book does not intend to provide in-depth detail for installing seals. There is always the possibility that the reader may be inexperienced in hypnosis and that they may go on to experiment with installing seals without a suitably trained supervisor at hand. At all times, the hypnotist must consider the health, well-being, and safety of his or her clients and it would be irresponsible for a novice hypnotist to inadvertently place a client (or themselves) in a position where they had undertaken an action that they were then unable to reverse. The hypnotist must also consider his or her own personal safety and well-being. Importantly, whether you are going to make practical use of the information in this book for yourself, or for another person, you should, at the very minimum be trained in hypnosis and know how to deal with the possible problems and responses that may arise during a hypnosis session; for example, hypnotic abreactions. While these unexpected problems are usually very rare, there are some advanced hypnosis techniques (for example, some forms of regression) that can make these unexpected responses more likely. As a hypnotist, you need to know how to, and be ready to deal with these situations. If you do not already know how handle the potential situations that may arise during a hypnosis session, then must get yourself trained before you attempt to use any of the techniques within this book. With regard to the hypnotic seal, there are many ethical considerations to take into account. A section of this book is dedicated to ethical considerations.

In a hypnosis-training course teaching seal-breaking techniques, it is difficult to teach a student how to ‘break’ a seal without first teaching at least an outline of the techniques used to install a seal. As explained earlier, we outline some seal installing techniques, but the in-depth details of these techniques are not given. This book is not a substitute for live, in-person general hypnosis training. Many references are made to hypnotic inductions and techniques, and we show how these inductions can be combined with seal bypassing and seal breaking procedures. We do not intend to teach the reader about the basic hypnosis techniques and inductions, nor teach these inductions and techniques are used in everyday hypnosis. The reader is presumed to be already knowledgeable in hypnotic inductions and associated techniques. As mentioned, some inductions and general hypnotic techniques are described in some detail. Note that these details are intended to provide additional information that will allow that specific technique to be more effective, particularly when used with seal breaking techniques. Importantly, it must be emphasised that all the techniques in the book rely upon the hypnotist working with a client in the hypnotic somnambulistic state. This is the normal expected working state for handling seals. If, as a hypnotist, you do not normally achieve somnambulism in your client, then get additional training so that you can quickly and easily get your client into and out of somnambulism. The Dave Elman Induction, when done correctly, is a particularly effective rapid induction for achieving somnambulism with the client. If you are not already experienced with this induction, then study and train in it and more important, use it and get experienced in it. Another good set of inductions to know are the instant inductions. Many hypnotists are put-off the instant induction because they consider them to be ‘showy’, and belonging to the stage hypnotist. This is not true. The instant induction has a place in the everyday hypnosis office. Many of the instant inductions are subtle, and they are all very effective for inducing trance, literally, in an instant. *****

Chapter 3 - What is the Hypnotic Seal? ~~~~~~~~~ In summary, the Hypnotic Seal, henceforth, called ‘seal’, is ‘just’ a suggestion (usually a posthypnotic suggestion) that is given to a person, while that person is (usually), to some degree or another, in hypnosis. The intention of the seal’s suggestions is to deliberately interact or interfere with, in some way or another, one or more of the processes of hypnosis. This interference may be intended to happen during the hypnotic induction, during the emerging from hypnosis, or in the main part of a hypnosis session when transformational suggestions are being given. In addition, it is possible to set a seal so that it interferes with other post-hypnotic suggestions outside of the main hypnosis session. As the hypnotic seal is a rare beast (most hypnotists and clients, never knowingly encountering one in the real world), there is not much good, solid, and practical information around. This lack of information is in part a contributing factor to the many misconceptions and fears surrounding the seal. Besides this lack of information, it must be noted that the people installing seals have a different mind-set to those people who consider the seal to be unethical. Many of the people who are installing seals have a certain self-interest in keeping quiet about how to put seals in place, and more important, how to remove them again. To reiterate, the seal is simply one or more suggestion(s) given to a client specifically to interfere with the hypnotic process. *****

Chapter 4 - A Brief History of the Hypnotic Seal ~~~~~~~~~ Historically, it is often said that dental practitioners developed and introduced the seal in the USA during the period 1930-1950. Documented evidence shows that the seal and seal-type-phenomena were recognised and were being used much earlier than the 1950s. In the book “Das Hypnotische Verbrechen und seine Entdeckung” by Karl du Prel 1889 [7], the author, while discussing the criminal use of hypnosis, outlines that it could be very difficult to find evidence of criminal activity through hypnosis because of; manipulation of witness memory, the use of suggested amnesia, and suggested false-memories. Karl du Prel, also considered that another problem would be the use of suggestions that could prevent the re-hypnotising of a crime victim. The prevention of hypnosis is one of the more common uses for a seal. ~~~~~~~~~ In or around the 1950s, the late great hypnotist Dave Elman saw several real-world instances of the seal. Dave Elman traced some of the people installing the seals and found them to be members of a particular medical and dental hypnosis organisation. Some of these licenced practitioners had installed seals in their patients in order to prevent lay-hypnotists from hypnotising their patients. In the early to mid-1900s, there was a hypnosis resurgence happening, and many medical organisations at the time seem to have been concerned about the number of lay-hypnotists (nonmedically trained or medically licensed people) that were appearing. Along with this, there was a growing presence of stage-hypnotism shows. The result was that some medical organisations wanted to maintain a greater degree of control over hypnosis and hypnotists. In addition, many of the medical organisations were of the consensus that hypnosis in the wrong hands (non-medical personnel) was potentially dangerous. In the reel-to-reel recordings of his Complete Medical Hypnosis Course [11], Dave Elman describes his suspicions about a hypnosis organisation of that era that he thought was teaching the hypnotic seal. In the recordings, Dave Elman goes as far as naming the organisation and additionally, names a medical doctor who allegedly used hypnotic seals with his patients. This medical doctor, who was using the seal in his patients, was also a US Senator, and head of that same medical hypnosis organisation. One historical case reveals where the placing of a seal caused a problem, and as a result, backfired. The story goes that a patient was seeing a dentist and that this dentist was using hypnosis with the patient. This patient, on a recommendation, went to see the aforementioned doctor / Senator for an unrelated problem and underwent hypnosis with him. When the patient returned to the dentist, the dentist was no longer able to hypnotise the patient. Dave Elman was certain that the doctor placed a seal using something like “… only a qualified doctor will be able to hypnotise you from this point on ….” The problem manifested itself when the patient returned to their own dentist. In that patient’s eyes, the dentist was not a doctor and so the seal was effective against the dentist. The result was that the dentist could not hypnotise the patient, even though that same dentist had not had any problem hypnotising the patient previously. Dave Elman was able to quickly break the seal, but the fact that doctors were using seals, seemingly

even against their own profession, outraged Dave Elman, and quite rightly so. In the Complete Medical Hypnosis Course, Dave Elman (who only taught licensed medical professionals), taught his hypnosis students about seals, how to break them, and emphasised how unethical seals were, and still are. If you are ever fortunate enough to hear the recordings from his course, you can hear Dave Elman himself at work, teaching his techniques. Dave Elman’s hypnosis techniques are timeless, and are as valid today as they were back then. ~~~~~~~~~ Another interesting source of information for seal installing and seal breaking techniques is the book “Hypnosis Induction Technics” by Myron Teitelbaum 1965 [9]. This book has several pages of instruction and describes the installing of, and the breaking of hypnotic seals. ~~~~~~~~~ Since the time of the Dave Elman era, (1950s) many schools of thought now consider that the placing of hypnotic seals is unethical, and the teaching and installing of seals has greatly diminished. However, you can still find still modern publications advocating and teaching the use of the seal. An example can be found in the book “Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis - In Medicine, Dentistry, and Psychology” written by William S. Kroger [6]. Kroger is a medical professional; he trained in gynaecology, obstetrics and had a deep interest in psychosomatic medicine. On page 322, in the section “Sealing the patient against hypnosis” Kroger states that a hypnodontist should give suggestions to protect the patient against amateur and stage-hypnotists. Kroger goes on to give the wording of what such a suggestion might be. He also mentions that the patient “should not be totally sealed against everybody” in case they are in need of hypnosis in the future. So here, we have an example of an advocate for the use of the seal who also provides some instructions, albeit simplistic, on how to put such a seal in place. ~~~~~~~~~ During the writing of this book, (2011, 2012), there does seem to be a resurgence in the use of the hypnotic seal. All the time, there are more and more hypnotists reporting that they are seeing instances of suspected seals for the first time in many decades of running their hypnosis practices. This resurgence of the seal is not limited to the medical or therapeutic areas of hypnosis. Recreational hypnotists are also seeing an increased use of the seal in their clients. More on this later. *****

Chapter 5 - Ethics ~~~~~~~~~ Most, though unfortunately not all, professional hypnotists both inside and outside of the licensed medical community consider the use of the seal to be unethical. In addition, most, if not all, professional hypnosis organisations and associations see the use of the hypnotic seal as being unethical to the point where they clearly state in their Codes of Conduct that a hypnotist shall not give any suggestion that will prevent a client from accepting suggestions or prevent the client from undergoing hypnosis by another hypnotist. At its simplest, the seal may require that a person/client/patient reject the hypnotic inductions, or other suggestions, unless certain (often-strict) conditions are met. An example often cited by other hypnotists is that a patient will reject the hypnotic induction process unless the hypnotist is a licensed medical doctor. Sometimes there is an even stricter constraint, for example, the hypnotist installing the seal will be the only person from whom the patient / client will accept a hypnotic suggestion. As we have already seen, these suggestions can inadvertently cause unexpected problems for clients and other hypnotists. The re-emerging and increasing use of the seal is not restricted to the medical community. For many years, there has been a significant, though mostly underground, use of recreational hypnosis. I do not intend to dwell in this area too much, but over the years, there has been a growing use of hypnosis in alternative lifestyles, erotic and fetish communities. This use of hypnosis can be found in areas such as enhancing and intensifying sexual experiences, enhancing and intensifying roleplay situations, seduction hypnosis, etc. For example, some dominants in the dominant / submissive scene have been reporting that clients coming to them have had a hypnotic seal put in place by another dominant. The dominants reporting this increased use of the seal think that maybe, the intent is to keep an enhanced sense of control over the client; although the more cynical think that there is an ulterior motive. They think it may be an attempt to ensure that a client cannot have hypnotically enhanced experiences should that client choose to visit another dominant offering a similar service. The thought is that the person installing the seal may be attempting to lock the client into a particular dominant’s service. ~~~~~~~~~ The good news is that, in general, once you become aware of the principles for the various seal breaking techniques, seals are quickly and easily bypassed and removed. The modern well-trained hypnotist knows about the seal, and knows how easily and quickly a seal can be removed. Unfortunately, this is not so true for the general population at large. The thought of a seal scares the hell out of most clients. Hypnotists throughout the world assert that one of the many myths surrounding hypnosis is that the hypnotist does not have any ‘control’ over a client, yet seemingly, here is something that is being done (through hypnosis) that does in fact seem to have control over the client. Some clients’ concerns may be: - “If hypnosis is so safe, then why do some doctors think that there is a need to stop a non-

doctor from hypnotising me?” - “My hypnotist has given me a suggestion that only they can hypnotise and give me suggestions. So what happens if the hypnotist has a fatal car crash? Will I never be able to be hypnotised again?” and so forth ~~~~~~~~~ Most hypnotists see the seal as an unwanted, unnecessary suggestion that has been given to a client. Some hypnotists often refer to these suggestions as being ‘negative suggestions’. Beware, this idea of a seal being a ‘negative suggestion’ is imposing the hypnotist’s own viewpoint. The client may see things very differently. Imagine that the client has previously seen a licensed medical professional who has done some hypnosis work with them. The client will certainly have been told that all the suggestions were given for the client’s benefit and that the suggestions were necessary for whatever client-issue was being addressed. Additionally, the client may have received and accepted suggestions for a seal, positively and in good faith. When the client comes to you and you find a seal, the client may not have any negative attitude to the past suggestions or to the seal. They may see the seal as being an unwanted suggestion, but not necessarily as a negative suggestion. As a professional hypnotist, you should refer to the unwanted suggestions as being just that, ‘unwanted’ or ‘unnecessary’. Do not give the seal a negative spin. So why should you avoid this negative spin? As already mentioned, the client may not see the seal suggestions as being negative. If you remove the seal and claim that the seal’s suggestions were negative, it could undermine the other beneficial suggestions that were given to the client at the same time. We do not fix that which is not broken, and we should only address the issue that the client has come to us about. Anything else is unethical on the part of the hypnotist. Consider this, the client, in the past, had been given smoking cessation suggestions and at the same time, accepted suggestions for a seal. If you are now collapsing the seal’s suggestions in a way that paints the seal’s suggestions as being negative, then in the client’s mind, all the other suggestions given at that same time might also be seen as being negative and consequently, those other suggestions may collapse and be undone too. A colleague told me this anecdotal story where a hypnotist, in all good faith, removed a seal. In the past, the client had received hypnosis for smoking cessation. At that same time, a seal was installed. Later when the seal was broken, the seal’s suggestions were described as being negative to the client’s interests and the seal was further commented on disparagingly. After having the seal removed, within hours of leaving the office, the client reverted to smoking even though they had been, through hypnosis, a non-smoker for more than three years. It happened that when the seal was broken, the smoking-cessation suggestions given at the same time as the seal, were also removed. The reason was that when the seal was described negatively, the client’s subconscious mind also considered the smoking cessation suggestions, given at the same time, to be negative and therefore not in the client’s own interests. For those interested, the underlying reason as to why the smoking

cessation suggestions were rejected at the same time that the seal was broken, was uncovered through parts-mediation work. Hypnotists must always remember that the subconscious mind accepts suggestions literally. Choose your words well. ~~~~~~~~~ Once a client has unreservedly accepted suggestions for a seal, then the seal can be quite powerful. Even if the client knows there is a seal present and want it removed, the client can be surprised, as can many hypnotists, that the seal works even when the client no longer wants it. This how the subconscious mind works. If the client accepted the seal with the right level of emotion and conviction, then even though the client may now consciously no longer want the seal, the subconscious mind will still hold the suggestions for the seal. Saying this, it is also possible for a seal to have been in place, been effective, and then for it to simply stop working because the client wanted the seal to stop. The emotion behind the desire is the key to all this. If the client wants the seal gone, then the seal will sometimes go away without any external intervention. While this natural removal of a seal is possible and can often happen, it is also possible that a seal can remain in place no matter how much the client internally wants it gone. This is when the client needs to seek out the assistance of a hypnotist trained in seal breaking techniques. *****

Chapter 6 - Why seals are bad? ~~~~~~~~~ You need to have a high standard of integrity to be a hypnotist. People are putting their trust in you to look after their best interests. Putting a seal in place undermines this trust. A client who has been ‘sealed’ often reports that: - They no longer trust hypnosis, or people using hypnosis - They are plain simply frightened that they are sealed - They feel that they no longer have control over themselves - They fear that another person is controlling them - They fear being hypnotised - They are a victim - They are confused and scared - Nobody has any right to do this to them - They are surprised that the seal can be put into place so quickly - They are surprised that the seal is so effective - They feel frustrated, helpless, confused, or annoyed; because they know that they have been in hypnosis before, and can no longer go into hypnosis - They feel anger towards the person who installed the seal. “How dare someone do this to them” - They feel anger towards themselves. They are confused and do not understand what is happening From a hypnotist’s viewpoint, the placing of a seal reflects badly on the hypnosis profession as a whole. When a hypnotist encounters a ‘sealed’ client, the hypnotist may have thoughts similar to one of these: - The client has been in trance before, so what is stopping them now? - Anger; “How dare someone do this to a client” - That the client cannot be hypnotised - If the hypnotist is unaware that the client is ‘sealed’, the hypnotist can feel inadequate - The seal is an exploitation of the client - The client is a victim

- Especially for the ‘new’ hypnotist, the seal can be frightening - It may seem to the hypnotist that they cannot use hypnosis to help the client - That they feel great fear; for instance, if it is an Exit Seal, it may appear to the hypnotist that they cannot get their client to emerge from hypnosis ~~~~~~~~~ The client may not even be aware that a seal has been put into place. Consider the following scenario. Imagine that a medical professional tells the hypnotised client: “Only a qualified professional will be able to hypnotise you” This statement is a seal, but has potentially far-reaching side-effects. When such a statement is given by an authority figure, say a licenced medical professional, this could very well be enough to seal the client from being hypnotised by non-doctors. The client could be thinking to themselves: “Well this person certainly knows what they are talking about” If the client views the medical professional as an authority figure, then the client may accept the suggestion without question. Reading in-between the lines, the client might think that this hypnotist’s suggestion is saying: - “I am an authority figure” - “I am qualified medical professional” - “Only a qualified professional will be able to hypnotise you” - Therefore, as a conclusion, only doctors will be able to hypnotise you This is all happening because of the critical factor bypass within the client’s conscious and subconscious mind and due to the perceived authority figure of the person giving the suggestion. The result may well be that the client is sealed, and that only a similarly qualified medical professional will be able to hypnotise the client from that point in time and in the future. The client will have accepted the seal without even realising it. At first sight, some might think that there was little wrong with the original suggestion when viewed at face value, but there is the potential of unseen effects within the subconscious mind. The question the reader should now be asking; “Was the original suggestion ethical?”, and “Was the seal in the client’s best interest?” *****

Chapter 7 - Introduction to the Types and Families of Seals ~~~~~~~~~ In the main, there are four main families of seal. Bear in mind that there can be a considerable overlap in the processes and techniques used with each seal family. While most seals can be grouped into one these generalised ‘families’, it is possible to have as many variations of the seal as your imagination can support. Here are the main categories, or families, of seals. ~~~~~~~~~

The Entry Seal These are post-hypnotic suggestions that change how a client reacts during a hypnotic induction. The primary purpose of the Entry Seal is to interfere with, or otherwise prevent the client from entering into hypnosis. An Entry Seal can use a variety of techniques, and can be used either alone, or combined with other techniques and with other sealing suggestions. The Entry Seal can vary from being a single, simple suggestion, to having a much more elaborate form. For example, at its simplest, it might be a suggestion stating that when someone tries to hypnotise the client, then the client instantly and immediately will go to his, or her, normal waking state of consciousness. Some people may use a more elaborate combination of seals such as; “When anyone attempts to hypnotise you, that person hypnotising you will become invisible. You will not be able to see them. You will not be able to understand anything they say to you. You will instantly and immediately return to your normal waking state of consciousness.” Entry Seals can often seem difficult to detect. However, by following a few simple rules of thumb, the detection of the Entry Seal is usually straightforward. The Entry Seal has traditionally been the most frequent one reported as being seen in a hypnotist’s office. The reason seems to be that this was the seal that was the most widely taught by the old hypnosis organisations in the past. Additionally, the information for installing this type of seal is readily available. Here are some other names that are you may find used for this seal: - Induction Seal - Anti-Induction Seal - Front-End Seal ~~~~~~~~~

The Exit Seal

These are post-hypnotic suggestions that change how a client reacts when they are being emerged from hypnosis into their normal, everyday, non-hypnotic state. The most common form of the Exit Seal is to interfere with, or else prevent the client emerging from hypnosis when instructed to do so. This seal is particularly unethical. Some readers may be asking; “Why is this seal particularly unethical?” This seal can be a terrifying and frightening experience for both the client and hypnotist. While the Entry Seal can interfere with the induction process, and prevent someone from going into hypnosis and be a bit of a nuisance, the Exit Seal can make it appear that the client is ‘stuck’ in hypnosis. Bear in mind that the client will never ever remain in hypnosis forever, and they will emerge themselves given a little time. Nobody ever gets ‘stuck’ in hypnosis. If the hypnotist just sits back and simply does nothing, the client will emerge themselves, usually within a few minutes to a few tens of minutes; that is unless there is some deliberate or suggested stimulus that helps to maintain the hypnotic condition This stimulus may be internal or external to the client, for example, from a hypnotist, or even from the client’s environment. However, the insidious nature of this seal means that when the seal is in place, the more a hypnotist attempts to emerge the client, then the more that the post-hypnotic suggestions (that keep the client from emerging) are being triggered. This can give the appearance that the client is indeed ‘stuck’ in hypnosis. Other names sometimes used for this seal are: - Back-End Seal - Emergence Seal - Anti-Emergence Seal - Wake-Up Seal ~~~~~~~~~

The Suggestion Rejection Seal The Suggestion Rejection Seal prevents the client from accepting new suggestions. This seal is often conditioned so that it is triggered during the middle part of a hypnosis session. The client is able to enter into, and emerge out of, hypnosis without hindrance. However, any intervention or change-work suggestions given to the client in the middle of the session are either ignored, refused, or rejected. For example, a client may go to see a hypnotist for smoking cessation. The client undergoes the induction, the intervention, and then emerges without any indication that anything is amiss. However, when the client leaves the office, they remain a smoker because the suggestions have not been accepted, due to the presence of the seal. The result is that the client leaves the hypnotist’s office thinking that hypnosis does not work for them, or even worse; that the hypnotist was not very good at their job. This reflects badly on the

perceived efficacy of hypnosis, damages the hypnosis profession’s reputation and it can tarnish the hypnotist’s personal reputation. Other names you might come across for this seal: - Rejection Seal - Ignore Suggestion Seal ~~~~~~~~~

The Communication Seal Suggestions are given to the client so that the client is unable to hear or understand any suggestion given by the hypnotist. This seal crosses over all the seals described so far in that it can be used to prevent; induction, emerging, or suggestion acceptance. Other names you may come across for this seal are: - Foreign Language Seal - Invisible Hypnotist Seal ~~~~~~~~~

The Self-Seal Although not really a specific type of seal, it is also worth mentioning the Self-Seal. This is where the client has installed a hypnotic seal that they have installed themselves. The client may have installed the seal intentionally or by accident. *****

Part 2 - The Hypnotic Seal Family ~~~~~~~~~ Information on the different types of seal such as the Entry Seal, Exit Seal, Communication Seal, Ignore Suggestion Seal, and Self-Seal. This section includes information on some of the rarer seals. *****

Chapter 8 - The Common Seals ~~~~~~~~~ Now we have covered the general family of seals, we will look at them individually and then in greater detail. For the majority of hypnotists, these common seals will probably only ever be seen in a hypnosis training courses which incorporate the teaching of the fundamentals of seals, and the techniques in how to break them. Here are some of the more common seals that you are most likely to encounter. Again, it must be stressed that in the real world, seals are still very, very rare. *****

Chapter 9 - The Entry Seal ~~~~~~~~~ If you ever encounter a seal in the real world, the Entry Seal will probably be the one you will encounter in your hypnosis practice. The reason is that this seal was one the most widely taught by the old hypnosis organisations. In addition, much of the information for installing this type of seal is still widely available. With an Entry Seal, when you are taking the client through the hypnotic induction, the client seems unable to go into hypnosis, no matter what you do or try during the induction process. The reason is that post-hypnotic suggestions, given previously to the client, are in some way, or another, interfering with the induction process. The Entry Seal can be seen in many forms. When you run through the induction process some of the symptoms may be: - The client is asked to close their eyes. They do so, but their eyes instantly pop open again - The client begins to laugh, and the harder you try the induction process, the more the client laughs uncontrollably - The client begins to cry, and the harder you try with the induction process, the more the client cries, maybe even uncontrollably - The client looks at you as if you are speaking a foreign language, and what’s more, you might be, from the client’s perspective that is. *****

Chapter 10 - The Exit Seal ~~~~~~~~~ When you take the client through the emerging process, the client fails to emerge. With the Exit Seal, a post-hypnotic suggestion has previously been given to the client, and this suggestion, is in some way, or another, interfering with the emerging process. To all intents and purposes, no matter what you do to emerge the client, the client seemingly appears not to emerge. Often times, the more you attempt to run the emerging process, the deeper into hypnosis the client appears to go. If your school of training has taught you about profound somnambulism and the hypnotic coma, then attempts to emerge the client through using the coma threat or a slower paced graduated emerging may also seem to have no effect. The emerging process may even produce signs that the client is going even deeper into hypnosis. *****

Chapter 11 - The Communication Seal ~~~~~~~~~ The Communication Seal has many variations. A few common variants of this seal are: - During induction, the client cannot understand or hear the hypnotist’s instructions and the client fails to enter hypnosis. The client may report that the hypnotist sounds as if they are speaking in a language that is foreign to the client - The same can happen again during attempts to emerge from hypnosis. The client does not seem to hear or understand the emerging instructions and remains in hypnosis, or else goes deeper into trance - When the change or intervention section of the session is under way, the client does not seem hear or understand the suggestions that are being given. For example, as part of the seal, the client may have been given suggestions so that they can recognise when the hypnotist asks them a question and that they are to nod their head in response, but to not actually hear or understand the content of the question - The same technique can also be used in to fake ideomotor responses. For example, when the client is asked to respond with a gesture, for instance, with a finger lift, then the client will respond with that gesture a few seconds later - An interesting variation that I was told about is where the client is able to hear and accept all instructions as they are guided through the hypnotic induction, the deepening, and the intervention phases. However, when the client is emerged, they have been previously given instructions (the seal) to reject all suggestions for intervention and therapeutic change - Other than recognising some minimal directions, the client cannot understand any suggestion being given for change I am assured that establishing this seal does not take much more work than the ‘speaking Martian’ skits that are often seen in stage hypnosis shows. An ex-stage hypnotist (who now works in the alternative lifestyle area) told me about this technique. As an experiment, they took the Communication Seal and adapted it so that only the intervention part of a hypnosis session was affected. The hypnotic induction and emergence stages are unaffected. *****

Chapter 12 - Ignore Suggestions Seal ~~~~~~~~~ The Ignore Suggestion Seal is, on the surface, similar in symptom appearance to the Communication Seal. However, rather than being unable to understand, hear or see the hypnotist, the client simply ignores whatever the hypnotist is saying to them. For the naïve ‘seal installer’, this can appear to be a weak seal. For example, a sudden, loud, startling command (shout) during the hypnosis session can quite easily get the client’s attention and effectively bypass the seal, and in the past, this method of using a short, sharp, shout was once a recommended way of bypassing this seal. There are some simple ways that can make this seal impervious to this particular seal breaking technique, and so clapping and shouting are no longer suitable techniques for breaking this seal. Shocking a client with excessively loud noises is unprofessional. *****

Chapter 13 - Self-Seal ~~~~~~~~~ Even though this is not really a different family of seal to the others, it is still worth a mention. This is more about how the seal got there in the first place, and there can be several variations of Self-Seal. One variation is that the client has deliberately used hypnosis to seal themselves. While in hypnosis, the client gives themselves the suggestion: “Nobody else can put me in hypnosis” This can be done purely through self-hypnosis. As a second variation, another way that this can be achieved is via the use of an audio CD. The client has previously been hypnotised and has been given the audio recording to re-trigger hypnosis. Alongside this, they have been given the ability and freedom of giving themselves whatever suggestion they want to address. The wording of such a recording starts along the lines of: “In a few moments, I will count from three to zero. When I reach the count of zero, you instantly and immediately will re-enter deep hypnosis. Before the countdown starts, imagine and give yourself positive suggestions for the issue you want to address. When the hypnotic session is under way, the suggestion you are giving to yourself will be reinforced” A third variation is that the client has been accidentally sealed through something that somebody has said to them. Somebody attempts to hypnotise the client and it happens that for some reason or other, that the client is unable to enter hypnosis, at which point somebody tells the client: “Maybe you have a hypnotic seal?” Another variation is not really a ‘seal’ at all. In fact, it is a fear or belief within the client them self. The client is unable to enter hypnosis due to a self-fulfilling belief. This could be because of: - A fear of hypnosis - Religious beliefs - Previous bad experiences with hypnosis and so forth. Other variations of Self-Sealing can occur, but they do not really warrant individual description as they are just variations upon a theme, and the main aspects of the Self-Seal have already been covered above. *****

Chapter 14 - Rare Seals ~~~~~~~~~ Here are some seals that you are unlikely to encounter in your everyday office, they are, nevertheless, interesting and are being included for this reason. These seals are either only going to be encountered in advance hypnosis training courses or else they may be used by those who work outside of everyday hypnosis practices; such as within some of the alternative communities. Here it must be STRONGLY EMPHASISED that the use of these techniques and seals go way beyond the boundary of being unethical. Many of the following suggested behaviours depend on the attitude of the client, the skill of the hypnotist and the working relationship between the hypnotist and the client. Establishing most (if not all) of these post-hypnotic suggestions would be difficult unless the client was willing to accept the suggestions and behaviours without question. The success of installing these seals is really nothing to do with hypnosis per se. Hypnosis is merely the facilitator for producing the triggered behaviour, and NOT the cause. For example, within a dominance relationship, such as an alternative lifestyle master / slave relationship, where the slave will accept, unquestioningly, an instruction to perform a certain action or behaviour, any time, any place anywhere, no matter how seemingly unpleasant or unpalatable it is. It might now be possible to manifest these behaviours through post-hypnotic suggestions using some trigger condition. This trigger could be a keyword, or a request to perform an action, for example, sit back, take a deep breath, and close your eyes down. I thought long and hard before this section was included. The decision was made to include this section as it was thought that this information ought to be covered, at least in outline, rather than omit it altogether and pretend that this never happens. Information is the key, and knowledge is power. I have omitted most of the details for both the conditioning of the behaviour responses and for the seal installation processes as they are in bad taste (though seeming not in bad taste to some people in some alternative communities). I think that enough information has been included to give a feel as to what is reported and alleged to be happening. You will not find these techniques being taught in your typical, modern, everyday hypnosis-training course. Some of these practices and techniques are more akin to those found in the institutions during the time of the Nancy and Saltpetier Schools. Seemingly, or so I have been told, many of the ideas being used in these fringe areas of hypnosis have been developed from historical accounts of the hypnosis techniques used by the aforementioned, and other, institutes. Everyone with whom I have spoken say that the difference between now and then is that the people involved now are fully informed consenting adults and not institutionalised, involuntary victims. Whatever their origin, these practices are considered by some people to be cutting-edge and are being developed and pursued by people who see themselves as not conforming to the social norms, or else think that they are pushing the boundaries of pleasure, behaviour and social acceptability. Most of these seals still fall within the seal-families already introduced. The main differences are the behavioural responses that are being elicited.

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The Seal Behaviours When you attempt to go through a trance induction, intervention or emergence process, then the client may: - Shout abusive language - Become violent - Deliberately be triggered into an abreaction or abreaction-like behaviour - Have a hysterical episode that looks like an epileptic fit (the person, who told me about this, claims that they got their idea from a hospital that is currently using hypnosis to induce nonepileptic seizures in their research lab; an internet search and a ‘PubMed’ [16] search are your tools here). - From the same (aforementioned ex-stage hypnotist): when the induction process begins, the client jumps out of the chair and feels as if an electric shock has been passed through their rump (another traditional stage hypnotism effect from the past) - Feel nauseated, which gets worse the more the induction process is attempted, even to the point where the client can end up vomiting. Variations of this seal may be behaviour such as an ever-increasing need to urinate and so on - A variation of the nausea reaction is that the client encounters the worst smell they have ever come across. If the induction process continues, this smell gets worse and worse. This is again an old stage hypnosis trick and is said to be very effective. The client may, or may not have been told that they will not vomit - Develop a headache that gets worse the more the induction is attempted - Experience feelings of pins and needles in a limb (or rump) that gets worse the more the induction is attempted - Dangerous variations - instantly go straight into deep hypnosis and then seem not respond to any suggestions - this can be very dangerous - what if the client is operating machinery or driving. Imagine it as an instant re-induction, but based on a trigger other than an arm-pull or hand-drop. Other examples could be a trigger-word, a trigger-sound, or even a trigger-picture - Remove an item of clothing at every induction (or emerging) attempt. I was told a rather strange, though amusing story (they were a good storyteller) regarding this. The story was corroborated both by the hypnotist and by their willing participating client. The client visited a hypnotherapist chosen at random. The suggested behaviour was that for every attempt at an induction, the client responded by in humming a verse of ‘three blind mice’, removed an item of clothing, and refrained from going into hypnosis. In my opinion, a very bizarre thing to do. Little or no evidence exists to suggest that this event actually occurred other than this word-ofmouth story. I personally remain sceptical as to whether or not this really happened We are often reminded that real-life is sometimes much stranger than fiction. *****

Part 3 - Hypnotic Seal Detection and Recognition ~~~~~~~~~ Detecting the presence of a Hypnotic Seal. Recognising the type of seal based upon the seal family and the seal behaviours that may have been implanted. *****

Chapter 15 - Detecting and Recognising a Seal ~~~~~~~~~ This may be one of the trickiest parts of breaking seals. That is the actual recognising of a seal. Sometimes it is not obvious that there has been a seal put in place. Some natural behaviours and reactions can make it appear as if there is a seal at work. Imagine the situation where you start to hypnotise a client, and they just are not able to go into hypnosis. Does this mean that there is a seal at work? In the words of the Hollywood legend, the late John Wayne, “Hell No!” The chances that the client has been sealed will be about the same as the probability of finding a five-legged chicken alive on the moon. Just because a client is responding in an unexpected way, it is important to avoid jumping to the conclusion that “The client has been sealed.” ~~~~~~~~~

Use some common sense When you are beginning to consider the possibility that a client may have had a seal put in place, then before jumping to a conclusion, use a big helping of common sense. You need to check to see whether or not the client has been hypnotised before, and if they have, what the outcome was. If the client has not been hypnotised before, nor do they practice self-hypnosis, then it will be extremely unlikely that the client has a seal. You must consider that there is a very small possibility that the client has inadvertently placed a Self-Seal. Recall the scenario covered earlier; someone tries to hypnotise the client and the client fails to enter into hypnosis. Then someone says to the client, “You must have a seal.” This scenario is sometimes enough to cause the client to install a Self-Seal . If the client has not hypnotised before and you are not able to get them into hypnosis, then the problem may be that: - The client is fearful of hypnosis - The client has some sort of inhibition to hypnosis (at this time) - The hypnotist may not have developed sufficient rapport with the client In any case, as they are not sealed, just treat the client as you would any other client. Give a good pre-talk and make sure that any unknowns and fears they may have about hypnosis are thoroughly addressed. If the client has been hypnotised previously, and is now having trouble going into trance, emerging,

or is not accepting suggestions, then there may be a possibility that the client has had a seal put in place. You will need to investigate a bit further, making sure that you consider areas such as fear, a previous bad experience, medication, ill health, and so forth. The problem could be anything that creates an inhibition to hypnosis within the client. So what do you do if you encounter a client with a seal? Do not tell the client that you think they have a seal. This in itself gives the seal a label and can anchor the idea that they may be ‘sealed’. Even if the client does not have a seal, simply telling that client that they “Might have a seal” can create that very same problem and effectively cause the client to seal themselves. If you think that your client is sealed in some way or another, then only proceed to remove the seal if you have hands on experience and training in dealing with, and removing seals. Do not halfheartedly attempt to remove a seal. Only begin to address the seal if you know that you have the knowledge and ability to sort it for the client. As mentioned earlier, everything must be about the well-being of the client. *****

Chapter 16 - Detecting the Entry Seal ~~~~~~~~~ While seals are very, very rare, the Entry Seal is the one of the most likely seals that might possibly be encountered in the hypnotist’s office. The reason for this is that the Entry Seal is the most often described in texts and training courses; it is also very quick and easy seal to put this seal into place. For example, in “Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis” [6], Kroger on page 322 provides the wording for applying a post-hypnotic suggestion to create an Entry Seal. You can use a suggestion as simple as “As soon as anyone other than myself or other licenced professional tries to hypnotise you, they will not be able to do so.” ~~~~~~~~~ You may need to make use of information collected on the client entry form as an aid to detecting the Entry Seal, so be sure to capture whether the client has been hypnotised before, the induction method used and/or a brief description of the hypnotic induction process used. Consider this; the client is in your office, you go through your induction process, and ... nothing happens. The client does not go into hypnosis. Are they ‘resisting’? Do they have an Entry Seal? What is going on? At this point, let me say that I hate, with a vengeance, the words and phrases ‘resisting’ and ‘resisting hypnosis’. The client has come to your office, and they have come to be hypnotised. How can this be considered resistance? I believe that everybody in reasonable health and sound mind can be hypnotised. As one of my teachers once taught me, “Only one type of client cannot be hypnotised; they are the ones without a heartbeat.” While this is obviously a very simplified generalisation, I have not seen anything to show me that this generalisation is not, in principle, true. Now, can ‘I’ hypnotise everyone? No of course not. Well in truth, the answer is that I can probably hypnotise almost all clients - by using an instant induction. However, that does not mean that I can always keep the client in hypnosis for any significant length of time. If I come across a client I cannot hypnotise, then does that mean that they are ‘resisting’ and cannot be hypnotised? No of course not. The most likely reason is that the client has some sort of fear or inhibition about hypnosis. It may also be a personality clash between the hypnotist and the client. Hypnosis is partly down to the working relationship between the hypnotist and the client, and this relationship requires a certain degree of trust. In the same way that you occasionally meet someone who you cannot ‘gel’ with, every hypnotist will at some time or another, encounter a client with whom they are unable to work. The reason may not always be obvious. Call it ‘bad chemistry’, ‘personality clash’ or whatever.

~~~~~~~~~ If, or when, you suspect that the client has an Entry Seal, then: - Check that the client agrees to accept your instructions. Remember that the client, whatever the reason, is always able to refuse your instructions. Hypnosis involves a certain degree of cooperation between the hypnotist and the client - If the client does not go into hypnosis, then stop. Ask the client if your instructions are agreeable and acceptable to them - Check that the instructions are clear and that the client understands them. Also, make sure that you are using words that the client can understand - Use direct and straightforward language and avoid words and phrases that may see patronising - As daft as it sounds, double-check that the suggestions that you have used are correct, and are unambiguous for the outcome that you desire for the client. Avoid words and phrases that can have more than one meaning An Entry Seal is usually one of the easier seals to detect, although this is not always the case. However, in the everyday surround of your office, and given the rarity of seals in the real world, I would not expect to encounter anything elaborate for an Entry Seal. Some of the signs to look out for with the Entry Seal; - The client has an instant and immediate reaction to any induction technique you try, for example, you ask the client to close their eyes and the client pops their eyes open almost immediately - You start the induction and the client suddenly starts to act or behave strangely. Rather than just sitting there following your instructions to go into hypnosis, the client quickly emerges themselves. They may say something like “It’s not working” - When you start the induction, the client obviously doesn’t follow your instructions and reacts by quickly emerging themselves - The client may noticeably react quickly to a particular word, or phrase that you used and causes them to emerge - In rare occasions, the induction process may cause the client to say that they have a problem, for example, they start to get a headache, they feel nauseous, or they feel a growing desire for a comfort break *****

Chapter 17 - Detecting the Exit Seal ~~~~~~~~~ Detection of this seal is fairly straightforward. If the client is not in the Esdail state and fails to emerge when requested to, then there is the possibility that they have been sealed. If you think that the client is in deep hypnosis, for example, Esdail, Sichort, or profound somnambulism, then first use an appropriate emerging technique. Give the client a reasonable amount of time to emerge; they may need longer to come to full waking awareness if they are in one of the deeper states of hypnosis. You should at least try the methods below before you even consider that there could be a seal: - Ask the client why they are not emerging - Use maternal emerging language - Use paternal emerging language - Use a slow emerging technique, perhaps with a count, allowing the client time to return gradually to their everyday waking state - Use a fast authoritative fast emerging such as “one-two-three Eyes open, fully alert, feeling good” - Use the (Esdail) coma threat - Open the client’s eyelids (physically or through instruction) and gently blow on their eyes - no seriously - do NOT do this. This method used to be taught as a way to emerge a client from the Esdail state. With what we now know about hypnosis, in this day and age, this technique is no longer needed nor appropriate. This method is a fast way to criminal charge of assault If the client does not show any sign of emerging, or is showing signs of going deeper into hypnosis, then there is a strong likelihood that they are sealed. I would like to re-emphasise that in the real world, seals are very rare, and that the presence a seal should be one of the last conclusions that you reach. If, or when you have established that there is a seal, you can now go and use the basic dissociation emerging technique by getting the client to run through the hypnotic process that was last used to emerge them. *****

Chapter 18 - Detecting the Communication Seal ~~~~~~~~~ The Communication Seal can be very easy to spot. However, it can also be very difficult to spot, depending on how the seal has been put into place, and as to how it has been combined with other seals. The Communication Seal can be tricky to detect when combined with other techniques and suggestions; for example, the suggestion may be that the client cannot hear or understand the hypnotist whenever they are giving suggestions for emerging. At its simplest, a client sealed with a Communication Seal simply stops responding to the hypnotist. The client may have a quizzical look on their face as they attempt to understand you. You can check their level of understanding by asking questions that require responses or ask them to react through a suggested ideomotor response. If the client is definitely not in a deep level of hypnosis, such as the Esdail level of hypnosis, and they fail to respond to you, then the Communication Seal will be a prime suspect. Recall that the Esdail state brings about a sense of euphoria, and frankly, a client in the Esdail state is not simply failing to respond, but rather, they do not want to leave that euphoria behind. Clients in the Esdail state are often so wrapped up in their own personal experience that they tend not to notice any instructions being given to them. An easy way of detecting a Communication Seal is simply to talk to the client. Ask questions, and get the client to respond. You can combine this with the induction instructions that you believe to be triggering the seal, for example, with an Entry Seal, Communication Seal combination: - “I want you to close your eyes and relax, while I count from three down to zero - “Three. You are able to hear me clearly and understand what I am saying. That is right, isn’t it? - Await a response, or repeat the last suggestion and the question, “You are able to hear me clearly and understand what I am saying? That’s right, isn’t it?” - “Two. Just allow yourself to relax a little more” - “Tell me, are you a little more relaxed now? Please answer yes or no” - Await a response, or repeat the last suggestion and the question If the client responds to you and communicates, the client is not sealed or at least not sealed in the way you thought they might have been. You use a similar technique if you suspect that a Communication Seal is preventing a client from emerging from hypnosis. You have tried the induction (or other) process and the induction seems to be failing. You now want to establish whether or not the language you used in the (failed) induction is triggering a seal. To detect the Communication Seal, you need to establish that the client can hear you, understand what you are saying and are able to tell you that they can understand you. If you have established a twoway communication process, then it is unlikely that the client has a Communication Seal. *****

Chapter 19 - Detecting the Ignore Suggestions Seal ~~~~~~~~~ This can be another tricky little seal to recognise. If the client is ignoring suggestions from the hypnotist, then this can appear to have exactly the same symptoms as the Communication Seal. Anyway, this seal can usually be dealt with in much the same way as the Communication Seal. A good way to differentiate between the Communication Seal and the ‘Ignore Suggestions’ Seal, is simply to establish a chat with the client while they are in hypnosis. Do not emerge the client; just ask the client a few questions, such as their name, how easy was it to find their way to your office. You can ask about any subject, and even have a chat about some trivia. Do not be patronising. If the client can understand you and they are communicative, then it is unlikely to be a Communication Seal. Again, in a similar fashion to the Communication Seal, there are variants of the ‘Ignore Suggestion Seal’ that will cause the client to ignore certain types of suggestion, for example, suggestions to emerge. The trickiest form of this seal is quite insidious. To all intents and purposes, the client goes into and out of hypnosis without any noticeable sign of a problem. However, it could be that the client has been given suggestions to ignore (or not understand) any suggestions for therapeutic change. That is to say, they have been sealed to ignore the suggestions. The result is that a smoker enters your office for smoking cessation, and then leaves again as a smoker - “I tried hypnosis and it didn’t work.” If you suspect that there is an ‘Ignore Suggestions’ Seal at work, then a good starting point to establish the existence of this seal is from the information on the client intake form. For example, checking whether, or not, the client has had a successful hypnosis session, with a successful outcome, in the past. Alternatively, you can also simply ask the client some questions. “Have you undergone hypnosis before?” “Tell me what happened” “Did you get good results?” If the client has had good results in the past, then you know something else is going on. So with the client in hypnosis, give some post-hypnotic suggestions and triggers and then see if the suggestions work after the client has been emerged. You could try for something like “When I (the hypnotist) touch or pull at my ear, you will have a deep desire to scratch your nose” Alternatively, for example, “After you have emerged from hypnosis, then each and every time you touch your thumb and ring finger, you will feel good, more confident, and you will be another step closer to achieving your goal.” Emerge the client and allow them a break for five minutes. Next, ask the client to touch their thumb and ring finger. Do not do this during the post-hypnotic interview. You want the client to emerge, more or less, fully so that you can ascertain the efficacy of the suggestion. When out of hypnosis

and after a short break, ask the client to exercise the trigger (finger-thumb touch) four, or five times. Allow some twenty to thirty seconds between each touch. After each touch, ask them: “How do you feel when you touch your fingers together?” “How does it feel now?” “How did it feel the first time you did it, the next time, and the next time?” Do not lead the client. Avoid asking leading-questions such as “Did it feel better each time you did it?” Wait for the client to respond. Listen to the client’s words and experiences. If the client is showing signs that the post-hypnotic suggestions have not been effective, then you may begin to suspect the ‘Ignore Suggestions’ seal. You may want to consider the use of an alternative post-hypnotic suggestion and trigger, such as: “Each time that I pull on my ear, you will feel happier and happier. In fact, you feel so happy that you begin to laugh, and you find yourself laughing more and more each and every time I pull on my ear.” Compound this suggestion a few times and then ask, “Is this acceptable to you?” When they confirm that the suggestion is acceptable, emerge the client. Give the client some time for a short break and then rub your ear and see how the client responds. You are looking to discover whether, or not, the client is accepting or ignoring your suggestions. *****

Part 4 - How Hypnotic Seals Are Installed ~~~~~~~~~ Establishing the Hypnotic Seal. Before you can break a seal, you should know what it takes to put a seal in place. *****

Chapter 20 - Establishing a seal ~~~~~~~~~ These instructions are being given as an outline of post-hypnotic suggestions that could be used to establish a seal in an informed volunteer. The success of placing a seal depends on many factors. These factors can include: - Rapport and trust - The client’s receptivity to the suggestions - The amount of emotion attached to the suggestions - Compounding of suggestions - Repetition - Simplicity of the post-hypnotic suggestions - Skill of the hypnotist - Client belief These techniques are much the same as those used every-day by hypnotists for effective clientchange work and intervention. That is to say, the hypnosis session must be managed and enhanced to get the most effective results for the client. The details for these techniques are omitted because of ethical considerations, and the exact wording that might be used to set-up an effective seal is not provided. The choice of words and phrases can make a seal less effective, or more effective. In the examples below, an outline is given of the general type of phrase that could be used for establishing a seal. These not the exact phrases that would be typically used for seal creation. These exemplar phrases are included to give a flavour of the suggestions that could be used to create a seal. If you are putting multiple seals in place in a single session, then you need to ensure that you are not confusing the client. If the client is confused, then they might not be able or willing to accept the suggestions. Therefore, if you are installing multiple seals ensure that they are clear in the client’s mind. ~~~~~~~~~ Please note that these outlines for placing seals are provided for informational and educational purpose only. If you are actually considering installing a seal in an informed volunteer, for example, a training demonstration, then make sure that the seal is time bound. That is to say, give instructions that the seal you are placing is for training purposes only, and that the seal will only be effective for a maximum duration of say twenty minutes, or else will only last for the duration of the demonstration. Once the time limit or demonstration is over, then emphasise that the seal will be gone.

*****

Chapter 21 - To establish an Entry Seal ~~~~~~~~~ At its simplest, put the client into a trance and simply tell them that no one else except a licensed doctor or you, the hypnotist, will be able to hypnotise them. Ask the client if they agree to that suggestion, and as far as the process of installing a simple Entry Seal is concerned, that is about it. To enhance this seal, establish with the client that the more they want to, or are requested, to go into trance, the less they are able to go into trance. ~~~~~~~~~ For example, “For training purposes only, are you willing to accept these suggestions that will stop others from hypnotising you?” You might want to suggest a maximum time limit for the seal. “The following suggestions that I am using for placing the seal will only last for the duration of this training session. When this training session is over, the seal will no longer be effective” Place volunteer in hypnosis. “If the seal is not removed, then it will go away all by itself when this training session is over” “I am now going to give you some suggestions to prevent other people, besides myself, from hypnotising you” “Is that acceptable to you? Yes, good” “These are the seal suggestions that I want you to accept” “Should anybody, other than myself, try to put you into hypnosis or into a hypnotic trance, then as soon as you become aware of the attempt, your eyes will open and you will be instantly fully alert” “For training purposes, I am going to introduce a seal into your subconscious mind. I am going to install into your subconscious mind, a hypnotic seal” “Nobody, and I mean nobody, except myself can put you in a trance” “I don’t care who that person is, where they come from, what they say, what they do” “Is this acceptable to you? Yes, good” “You will always instantly and immediately respond to any suggestions that I give you” “Do you accept all of these suggestions that I have given to you?” “Yes” “I will always be able to hypnotise and emerge you into and out of hypnosis.”

“If anyone else attempts to hypnotise you during this training session, then your eyes will pop open and you will be in your everyday waking state of consciousness” Emerge the client out of hypnosis with a simple and quick count. “I will count to three, and on the count of three, you will emerge from hypnosis, and the seal will become much stronger that it is now” “One, two, three. Open your eyes and feel good” Subtle changes to the wording used to establish the Entry Seal can even hinder an instant induction from being used to break the seal. You can add suggestions to produce an unwanted side effect that will occur each and every time that an induction attempt is made, and that each time an induction is attempted, the side-effect gets more pronounced. Keep this tasteful and totally ethical. Always remember to make the seal time bound, and ensure that you always give suggestion that you, the hypnotist, will always be able to communicate with the volunteer, remove the seal and emerge them. *****

Chapter 22 - To Establish an Exit Seal ~~~~~~~~~ To install this seal, the volunteer is asked to accept suggestions so that they will not emerge when requested to do so unless the hypnotist is yourself or a licenced doctor or whatever ‘sealing’ condition is being established and demonstrated. You might also want to set-up the seal so that any attempt at emerging is used as a trigger (or anchor) for other post-hypnotic suggestion effects, such as: “Every time there is an attempt to emerge you, you find yourself going even deeper into a comfortable and deep pleasant hypnotic state, and your desire to emerge becomes less and less” Note that in the above, each attempt at emerging the client is actually a deepener. Also note, there is the compounding effect of any repeated attempts at emerging the client. An unethical variation of the Exit Seal is a carrot / stick approach. The seal is that the client is told that when they are in hypnosis, they feel so good, so comfortable, and that they want to remain in that condition. However, when they emerge from hypnosis, they will be back facing the worries and tribulations of life and that they will resist all attempts at emerging them. This is a very unethical and un-professional thing to attempt to do, even in a teaching environment or for demonstration purposes. Do not use this carrot / stick approach. ~~~~~~~~~

Putting the Exit Seal in place Obtain the volunteer’s permission to hypnotise them. Hypnotise the client into somnambulism. Obtain the volunteer’s permission to install a seal for training purposes. Then give the client the sealing instructions, for example, “If the seal is not removed, then it will go away all by itself when the training session is over” “The seal will be automatically removed after twenty minutes” (make the seal time bound) “I am now going to give you some suggestions that will prevent people, other than myself, from emerging you” “Is that acceptable to you? Yes, good” “Here are the seal suggestions that I want you to accept” “Should anybody, other than myself, attempt to emerge you, you will easily and instantly drop right back down into this state, and go even deeper” “It doesn’t matter who that person is, where they come from, what they say, what they do” “Is this acceptable to you? Yes, good”

“You will always be able to instantly and immediately accept and respond to my suggestions” “Do you accept all of the suggestions that I have given to you? Yes” “Should anyone, other than myself, attempt to emerge you, then you will find yourself going much deeper into hypnosis, and you will really enjoy the feeling it gives you” “For the duration of this training session, and for this training session only, do you accept the suggestions that I have given to you? Yes” “I will always be able to emerge you from hypnosis. Should anyone else, other than myself, attempt to emerge you from hypnosis during this training session, you will find yourself going deeper and deeper into a comfortable and pleasurable hypnotic trance” Emerge the client out of hypnosis with a simple and quick count. “I will count to three, and on the count of three, you will emerge from hypnosis, and the seal will become much stronger that it is now” “One. Two. Three. Open your eyes and notice how good you feel” I again need to note that I have deliberately omitted the details that can make this type of seal more effective than the instructions that I have provided here will achieve. The instructions given are, more or less, sufficient for training and demonstration purposes - although the instructions do need some tweaks here and there. A trained and experienced hypnotist will be able to fill in the blanks and provide suitable ‘tweaks’. *****

Chapter 23 - To Establish the Ignore Suggestions Seal ~~~~~~~~~ Note: This is not the same as the Communication Seal, although the end-result may appear the same to an outside observer. The sealing process and suggestions for this seal may go along the lines of: - Obtain the volunteer’s permission to hypnotise them - Use an induction process to get the volunteer into somnambulism - Obtain the volunteers permission to place the seal. Then, - “Whenever anyone hypnotises you, you will find that you can follow all the suggestions for entering into and emerging out of hypnosis. Whenever you are in hypnosis and the hypnotist is anyone other than myself, you will ignore all the instructions and suggestions that are being given to you, except for those suggestions and instructions that guide you into hypnosis or guide you to emerge out of hypnosis” - “Is this acceptable to you?” - Emerge the client - and so on Again, give suggestions so that the seal will automatically be removed after the training session is over or when, say, twenty minutes of time have passed. *****

Chapter 24 - To Establish a Communication Seal ~~~~~~~~~ This can be used as a seal by itself, or can be combined with ‘Entry’, ‘Exit’ and ‘Ignore Suggestion’ Seals. ~~~~~~~~~ The sealing process and suggestions for this seal may go along the lines of: - Obtain the volunteer’s permission to hypnotise them - Use an induction process to get the volunteer into somnambulism - Obtain the volunteers permission to place the seal - “Whenever anyone other myself attempts to give hypnotic suggestions to you, you instantly and immediately find that you cannot understand what the hypnotist is saying. It is as if that other hypnotist is speaking a foreign language, whispering, losing their voice, or has become invisible to you). You are unable to hear and unable to understand anything that they are saying to you” “You will always be able to hear, understand, and respond my voice and any instructions that I may give you” - “Is this acceptable to you?” - Emerge Another variation of the Communication Seal is to get the client to laugh. The more someone tries to hypnotise them, the more they laugh, to the point where they are laughing so much and so loudly that they cannot hear what the hypnotist is saying to them. Again, give suggestions so that the seal will automatically be removed after the training session is over or when, say, twenty minutes of time have passed. *****

Chapter 25 - Using Seals used for Training Purposes ~~~~~~~~~ Make sure that you have attended live hypnosis training yourself before you teach and use seals for training purposes. Make sure all seals are time-bound and training session bound, and that the seal will expire after a time limit or at the end of the training session. Obtain the volunteer’s permission to hypnotise them. After the volunteer enters hypnosis, obtain their permission to place a seal. Make sure that the volunteer knows for certain that the seal is temporary and also that they understand that the seal(s) will be cancelled automatically even if no specific seal removal suggestions are given. Always make doubly sure that you, the hypnotist, will always be able to hypnotise and emerge the volunteer, and that the volunteer will always be able to understand you and accept your suggestions. If demonstrating the seals, never use unethical seals and behaviours such as aggression, nausea, rudeness, any sort of pain, simulated seizures, etc. Always explain the ethical considerations as to why hypnotic seals are detrimental to the client, the hypnotist, and to the wider profession of hypnotism in general. You must always explicitly remove any seals after the demonstration or training session is over. ~~~~~~~~~

Installing a Training Seal An outline for installing a ‘training’ seal might go along the lines of: - Obtain the volunteer’s permission to place the seal for training purposes only - Get the volunteer into somnambulism - Ask the volunteers permission to accept the seal - Set the bounds for the seal by specifying that if the seal is not explicitly removed by the hypnotist, or by a fellow student during the training session, then the seal will be removed automatically after the specific time limit or at the end the training session, whichever occurs first - Place the seal. Keep it simple. The purpose is to demonstrate the seal and to teach the seal removal techniques; it is not appropriate to attempt to show how ‘sealed’ you can make the volunteer - Give the students clear and explicit examples of suggestions for setting the training boundaries, and give examples of a simple Entry, Exit, Communication and ‘Ignore Suggestion’ seals

- Keep the students and volunteers safe and well educated with regard to the seal You need to consider the many health and safety considerations. You must ascertain and ensure that the volunteers are generally healthy, are not asthmatic, and do not have any other chest or heart problems and so forth. For example, in the case of a Communication Seal using laughter, the last thing you want is for the volunteer to laugh themselves into an unexpected medical problem. ~~~~~~~~~

Removing the training seal Although you will have given suggestions that the training seal has its own inbuilt life cycle, for the duration of the training session only, and that the seal is automatically removed after twenty minutes, it is still good practice to specifically remove any seals that you have placed. - Get the client into somnambulism Then: “Let your mind drift back to the deepest state of hypnosis that you have ever been, mentally and physically, and let yourself be there; be there now” “Thank you for accepting the seal during this training session” “From this point on, any seals that you may have accepted for the purpose of this training session are all now completely and totally removed from your mind” “From now on, you are able to accept hypnotic suggestions from anyone you choose. You are be able to enter deep hypnosis any time you choose to. Additionally, from now on and into the future, should anyone attempt to hypnotically seal you in any way whatsoever, you will be immediately and instantly be aware of what they are attempting to do” “No one will ever be able to seal-you-off without your express permission. If you want to allow yourself to be hypnotically sealed for the purpose of demonstration, then it is your choice” “All the seals have now gone. Thank you for being a volunteer and demonstrating the seals” - Emerge the volunteer - Use the post-hypnotic interview to apply reinforcement to the seal removal suggestions *****

Chapter 26 - Additional Notes On Installing Seals ~~~~~~~~~

Compounding As with all hypnosis, compounding the suggestions for a seal will make it more likely that the seal will be accepted by the client’s subconscious mind. At the same time as the seal’s suggestions are being given, the client may be also given suggestions such as: “Each and every time someone other than myself attempts to hypnotise you, the suggestions I have given you will become stronger and stronger”; This happens because of the way that suggestions can be compounded. ~~~~~~~~~

Build up the emotion The more the client engages with the idea that the seal is the right thing for them, then the greater they will engage with the suggestions and accept them. By getting the client emotionally and subconsciously aligned with the seal, then it is more likely that they will accept it. You need to make the thought of a seal as appealing as possible, obtain the client’s permission, and then install the seal. From a technical perspective, you do not actually need the client’s express permission to install a seal, but doing so makes it more likely that the seal’s suggestions will have greater effectiveness. ~~~~~~~~~

Amnesia You can instruct a client to forget that they have been given a seal. If the client engages with this idea, then selective amnesia will be more acceptable to the client and hence easier to achieve. Hypnotic amnesia is a bit hit or miss. It depends on the client ‘buy in’. Establishing short-term hypnotic amnesia is one thing, for example, stage hypnosis effects such as “Forget your name.” Establishing long-term hypnotic amnesia is a little more difficult, though achievable. Long-term amnesia is not a subject that will be discussed any further within this book. ~~~~~~~~~

Caveats When post-hypnotic suggestions for a seal are being given to a client, the suggestions may or may

not be accepted and taken on-board. As people gain a greater awareness of the inner working of hypnosis, they are becoming more and more aware of the pros and cons regarding the motivation of those hypnotists who want to install a seal. A person is able to accept or reject any hypnotic suggestions given to them, and if that person is given suggestions to implant a seal that is against their wishes, they will most likely reject those suggestions. Note that there are many ways of making it more likely that a recipient will accept a seal. These techniques are the much same as those you will find in the better hypnosis schools and advanced hypnosis courses; I am thinking about hypnotic techniques, not persuasion, NLP or other techniques. The more informed the client is about hypnosis techniques then the more discriminating they are and better able to detect and reject seal planting suggestions. Additionally, there are non-hypnotic techniques that can be used to persuade a person to accept suggestions and a seal. This has nothing to do with hypnosis. This area is more to do with the persuasion (selling) skills of the person who wants to install the seal. In addition, there are waking-suggestion and waking-hypnosis techniques that can be used to install a seal. Techniques around language-patterns and covert-hypnosis can also be used to place a seal. The hypnotist’s ‘perceived-authority’ can also be a significant factor; that is to say, how authoritative the hypnotist appears to the client. The more authoritative the hypnotist appears to the client, then the more influential that hypnotist will most likely be. Authoritative does not mean domineering. How authoritative a hypnotist appears to a client depends on the perceived skill, professionalism, and authority of the hypnotist. *****

Part 5 - Removing a Hypnotic Seal ~~~~~~~~~ Breaking seals. What you need to know in order to break a seal, along with techniques you can use to bypass, defeat and remove an unwanted Hypnotic Seal. *****

Chapter 27 - Breaking Seals ~~~~~~~~~

Some basic information The two statements that were made earlier, in the section about recognising a seal, are worth repeating again. What do you do if you encounter a client with a seal? Do not tell the client that they have a seal. If you do tell the client, then this in itself gives the seal a label, anchors the fact that they are ‘sealed’. Even if they do not have a seal, the mere mention that they might have a seal can create a seal. In much the same way as a healthy person can think themselves sick, a person can ‘seal’ themselves if they think that they are not hypnotisable. Notes: If you are certain that the client has been sealed in some way or another, then only proceed to remove the seal if you have hands on experience and the relevant training in dealing with seals. Do not half-heartedly start to address the seal unless you have the certain knowledge and ability to sort it out for the client. Remember that each failed attempt at breaking the seal is likely to compound the problem. Consider this. If the client has been given a suggestion such as: “Each and every time that someone, other than myself, attempts or tries to hypnotise you, then the suggestion that I have given you will become stronger and stronger”, the Law of compounding of suggestions Each failed attempt at removing the seal will inevitably make the next attempt, at removing the seal, more difficult. Do not make things more complicated that they need to be. Keep it simple. Work within your training. ~~~~~~~~~

Do not assume you know who installed the seal Importantly, do not make assumptions or jump to conclusions regarding who, or when a seal was installed. For example, the last person to hypnotise the client might not necessarily have been the person who installed the seal. Consider this: say that the last person to have hypnotised the client was a medical professional. The likelihood is that the last person who hypnotised the client is not the same person who originally installed the seal. The original installer of the seal may have given suggestions such as: “From this point forward, only a licenced medical professional will be able to hypnotise you” If since that time, only licenced medical professionals have hypnotised the client, then the client may have had many hypnosis sessions from different medical professionals (hypnotists) without problem.

As a hypnotist intending to break a seal, you will sometimes have to ‘think outside of the box’ when addressing and removing hypnotic seals. ~~~~~~~~~

Indirection Many of these basic techniques for bypassing and breaking seals use indirection or dissociation. That is the hypnotist, from the client’s perspective, is never directly giving the client suggestions to induce hypnosis or to emerge from hypnosis. This process allows the client to be dissociated from the hypnotic technique(s) being used. However, more on this when we get to the techniques themselves. ~~~~~~~~

Regression Some hypnotists are quoted as saying that regression techniques are not suitable for removing seals. The problem is not with regression per se. In fact, regression is a very effective technique. When using regression to break a seal, a frequent problem is that the hypnotist unknowingly uses a key word / phrase that triggers and locks down the seal. We explain and talk more about trigger words and phrases later. If a regression technique appears not to be working, then avoid using potential trigger words / phrases. Regress to before the seal’s suggestions were given, remove the seal, and then bring the client forward to the present. Next, hypnotically progress the client so the problem is non-existent in the future. Before you attempt any regression technique, ensure that you have been trained in regression hypnosis and have been taught how to deal with abreactions and any other problems that may present themselves. After breaking and removing a seal, always check your work. Ensure that the client is free from the seal before they leave your office. ~~~~~~~~ Some hypnotists report that the way to break a seal is to out-hypnotise the other hypnotist. This simply is not so. What you have to remember is the nature of what hypnosis is. The phrase, which I always fall back to, is the one of the definitions of hypnosis: “The bypass of the critical factor of the conscious mind, and the establishment of acceptable selective thinking” No matter how a seal has been put into place, what you are looking for, as a seal remover, is an entry point into the mind. That is you are looking to bypass the critical factor and find a way of establishing acceptable selective thinking. In English, to break a seal, you are looking for a way to get suggestions into the subconscious mind

without triggering the seal’s post-hypnotic suggestions. You are also looking to give additional or alternative suggestions to ensure that the seal is removed so that it will no longer be a problem in the present, nor in the future. The seal will then be broken. As the late great Dave Elman said in his course [11], “… you cannot seal off all entry points into the human mind” “While a person may be sealed off from receiving one or more sets of suggestions for trance, there are still a million more ways into the mind” What you, the hypnotist, needs to do, is to find just one those ways into the mind. Make sure that you always complete your instructions to the client, so that the client always gets the full set of instructions. Never stop short of completing your instruction just because the client appears to have followed it before you have finished saying it. Use simple and unambiguous language. Where possible, avoid ‘big words’ and ‘eloquent words’ and phrases. Your understanding of the meaning of a word may have a very different meaning for the client. Choose simple plain language, go for the lowest common denominator, and at the same time, do not be patronising. We will now move forward to cover some of the more popular and traditional ways of breaking the more common forms of the seal. After that, we give some outline ideas of what you may want to do if these more obvious methods do not appear to work as well as expected. ~~~~~~~~~ Many textbooks give prescriptive ways of breaking seals. That is to say, “To break the Entry Seal you do Step a), followed by Step b), followed by Step c) etc” In reality, there is no definitive way of breaking a seal. For example, if an Entry Seal has been put in place by one of the more ‘traditional’ ways, then using a traditional (de-facto) prescriptive Entry Seal breaking technique may indeed, work out of the box. In reality, you may need to be a bit more inventive rather than blindly follow a prescriptive technique. You should always be prepared to work and think ‘outside of the box’. Some of the techniques outlined below are relatively traditional. I also include some other outsideof-the-box ideas as examples. The exact details as to how you go about tackling a given seal will be dependent on you, your client, the type of seal, and to a certain degree, the hypnotist who applied the seal in the first instance. Regarding seal breaking techniques, a very powerful, effective technique is to use dissociation. Many of the following techniques use dissociation in one form or another. Another powerful and effective method to bypass the client’s critical factor is to get the client to ‘pretend’ a situation or scenario. Getting the client to pretend allows them to run through an imaginary scenario, process, or situation. Remember that the subconscious mind accepts suggestions literally. So while the conscious mind is happily pretending, any suggestions that are being given to the client, while they are ‘pretending’, bypasses the critical factor and goes straight into the subconscious mind. Getting the client to imagine or pretend in this way is an excellent method of critical factor bypass. This technique can be made far more powerful and effective if the client ‘buys into’ the pretending

process with a strong, emotional element and intent. *****

Chapter 28 - Breaking the Entry Seal ~~~~~~~~~

Using Indirection The basic form of the Entry Seal is quite easily removed using an indirection technique. That is to say, rather than attempting to directly hypnotise the client, the hypnotist gets the client to imagine the time when they were last successfully hypnotised (probably by the seal installer, but not necessarily so). The hypnotist breaking the seal uses the client’s imagination to lead the client along the memory of the past hypnosis session until the client is successfully back in hypnosis. When this happens, the seal is, in effect, broken. Before starting the actual hypnosis process, what you, the hypnotist, need to know is the hypnosis method used when the client was last successfully hypnotised. If you captured this information in the client intake form, then you can use that information, otherwise asking a few questions can get you the details you need. This seal breaking technique does not at any point attempt to hypnotise the client directly. Instead, the dialogue will go along the lines of: “Remember back to the last time you were successfully hypnotised, how did the other hypnotist do the induction?” If the client cannot remember, you may want to help the client with some options. “Did the hypnotist ask you to?” - “Close your eyes, let your eyelids relax to the point where they just won’t work. When you are sure that they just won’t work, just try to open them” - “Tense up or tighten the muscles in a part of your body and then ask you to relax them again” - “Open and close your eyes while they were counting up or down, or asked to alternately open and close your eyes for each new number” - “Look at a given point or object, and counted or spoke to you while you were staring at the point or object” - “’Push on their hand’, and then they suddenly pulled their hand away” What you want is to get the gist of the technique previously used. When you have the outline of the process used for the induction, you can now use that for the dissociated induction process. For example, “Remember back to the last time you were hypnotised. I want you to think back and remember what the hypnotist said to you, and imagine yourself following their instructions” “Remember back to how they asked you to close your eyes and told you that your eyes were heavy or sealed tight shut and wouldn’t open. Well, they were right. Now follow those

instructions again, and close your eyes down” “They told you that your eyelids wouldn’t work and they asked you to test them to see that they wouldn’t work. They were absolutely right. So think back and again follow that hypnotist’s instructions, test your eyelids and notice how your eyelids just won’t work” “Now imagine that they are telling you to stop testing, and just allow yourself to follow their instructions and stop testing. Remember back and imagine how the other hypnotist asked you to go deeper at every count, and allow yourself to follow their instructions as they take you deeper and deeper” You need to adjust your instructions according to the induction process that the other hypnotist used. Sometimes you do not need to guide the client at all. You may just need to start the client off, sit back, and say nothing. The client will run through the process in their own mind. As talk therapists, sometimes hypnotists find it difficult to simply sit back and say nothing. While going through the above process, you do not need to follow all the steps. You just need to follow the steps long enough for the client to go into hypnosis, which will depend upon their previous experience. Sometimes the client will be back in hypnosis within the first sentence or two. Other times, you may need to guide the client along the process for longer. Once the client is in hypnosis, stop. Do not keep going just because the instructions say so. When you get the client into a stable hypnotic trance, then the induction is done. You then want to give suggestions directly (rather than as an indirection) to the client to deepen the hypnosis to a working level. Here, you can use any suitable deepening technique. Bear in mind the caveat about possible ‘trigger words’ and ‘trigger phrases’ that are described a little later. As soon as you have the client in hypnosis, you have broken the Entry Seal. You may want to tell the client, something along the line of “Well done, you are back in hypnosis” The fact that they are back in hypnosis, and have bypassed the restriction put in place by the other hypnotist, causes a contradiction and reinforces that the seal is in effect broken. However, you may want to reinforce further that the seal is broken with some specific suggestions. You can give suggestions to the client along similar lines to: “From now on and into the future, you can be hypnotised by anyone you choose to allow. You no longer have any restrictions as to who can hypnotise you” You now ensure the client accepts the new suggestions, and then you must test your work, so repeat the phrase and check your work: “From now on and into the future, you can be hypnotised by anyone you choose to allow. Is this acceptable to you?” You should consider compounding these suggestions a few times. When the client has accepted these suggestions and responded with a “Yes”, you can then emerge the client with a suggestion such as:

“In a few moments I am going to ask you to emerge out of hypnosis. You know that you no longer have any restrictions as to who can hypnotise you. From this point forward, you can go into hypnosis any time you choose to do so. Anyone can put you into hypnosis should you want or allow them to” “You understand and accept this, this don’t you?” “Yes” Emerge the client. Give them a few minutes and then test your work by putting the client back into hypnosis through an induction process. ~~~~~~~~~

Enhancements You can improve your success by enhancing the experience for the client. For example, Jerry Kein [1] suggests that you; Say to the client something along the line of “Forget about hypnosis for a few minutes. Let’s just have a chat” “You have talked to someone about hypnosis and relaxation before haven’t you?” “Just imagine or get a mental image of the last person who hypnotised you. I want you to make that mental image really strong. You can close your eyes because you can get a much stronger mental image that way” “I want you to make this really strong and powerful in your imagination” Up to this point, there is no hypnosis whatsoever involved. You are getting the client wrapped into the experience, and stimulating and using their imagination. Using the imagination in this way is a good method to bypass the critical factor. When you get the client to imagine and make this mental image stronger, you are getting the client to establish selective thinking - recall that the bypass of the critical factor and the establishment of acceptable selective thinking = hypnosis You can then continue with the rest of the technique by getting the client to replay the process of when they were last successfully hypnotised. *****

Chapter 29 - Breaking the Exit Seal ~~~~~~~~~ This technique uses dissociation in a similar way to the technique for breaking the Entry Seal. At this point, the client is in hypnosis and you have had difficulty in getting the client to emerge. When the client has been asked to emerge, they didn’t do so, and the client may even have been showing signs that they were going deeper into hypnosis. Ideally, the client should already be in somnambulism or profound hypnosis. You should have already established that the client is not in the Esdaile state and that there is a seal inhibiting the client from emerging out of hypnosis. Now you can ask the client why they are not emerging - they almost certainly will not have been given suggestions to refuse to tell you. All the same, do not be surprised if the client replies that they do not know why they are not emerging. Ask the client to imagine or visualise the last time they were in hypnosis and were asked to emerge. Ask the client to follow those past instructions, and to emerge themselves out of hypnosis, in exactly the same way as before. This is a ‘traditional’ way of breaking the Exit Seal through a dissociation process. So the technique is that; you find out how the previous hypnotist emerged the client, and then you use an indirection technique to guide the client through the emergence process. “Remember the last time that you were successfully hypnotised and remember the words and instructions that the hypnotist said to you when they emerged you out of hypnosis?” “Now remember and recall the steps that they guided you through” “I want you to imagine that you are back there with that hypnotist. I want you to see, hear, or imagine that hypnotist taking you out of hypnosis. Now I want you to follow those instructions, and visualise or imagine yourself back there again, hearing the instructions. Now, again follow the instructions as the hypnotist takes you out of hypnosis and back into your everyday conscious awareness” Not only is this technique suitable for emerging a client when they have been Exit Sealed, but this technique is also a suitable and alternative way to emerge a client from a deeper state of hypnosis, such as the profound somnambulism, Esdail, and Sichort levels. ~~~~~~~~~

Some additional techniques and ideas If the client does not know why they are unable to emerge, or cannot remember how they were emerged in the previous hypnotist’s session, then the client may have been given a suggestion for amnesia, or maybe they simply cannot verbalise why they will not emerge. The client may have been given a suggestion that they love this state of trance so much that they feel comfortable, relaxed and without a care in the world. So much so that they don’t want to leave the experience. They may also have been given suggestions so that the more they are asked to emerge, then the more comfortable they feel and are less inclined to emerge. Again, the indirection technique is a

very good approach to tackle this. You do not even need to know the details of what the other hypnotist actually said or did to emerge the client. You can simply ask the client to follow the instructions (that they were previously given) quietly in their own mind. Counter-intuitively, while the hypnotist is a talk-therapist, sometimes you just need to sow the seed of the suggestion and then shut-up and let the client get on with it. If there seems to be hypnotic amnesia preventing the client telling you what the previous hypnotist did and to emerge them, then a handy technique around this is to ask the client describe and to tell you in real-time what they are doing as they follow their own internal dialogue and instructions. Another technique to emerge the client is to use regression. Regress the client back to the last time they were hypnotised, regress them back to the point before the seal’s suggestions were given and then you give instructions / suggestions to negate the seal. Yet another technique is to tell the client that they will shortly emerge, and then just leave them to it. Nobody stays in hypnosis forever. When the client eventually emerges, explain that when they emerged, then the seal was broken. You need to be confident and convincing for this technique to work. After the client has emerged, re-hypnotise them and give explicit suggestions for removing the seal. Test your work. Some people have proposed the use aversion therapy type techniques for breaking this seal. That is, the client is coerced or threatened by ideas or behaviours that they are motivated ‘away-from’. For example, “If you don’t emerge now, then you will no longer be a non-smoker”, or “If you emerge now, then you will avoid a substantial addition fee being added for this hypnosis session”. Most hypnotists consider these techniques and other similar ones, to be unethical. I personally never use any type of aversion therapy with my clients - ever. *****

Chapter 30 - Breaking the Communication Seal ~~~~~~~~~

Indirection Handling the Communication Seal is often one of the biggest sources of confusion and misunderstanding, especially when it comes to the use of using a ‘chain of people’ as an indirection. In a nutshell, the ‘chain’ technique involves passing an instruction or suggestion from the hypnotist along a chain of one or more people, until the instruction arrives at, and is given to the client. This can be one additional person, that is to say, the hypnotist, a helper, and the client. Or else it can be more involved, using a chain of two or more people who pass along the instructions between the hypnotist and the client. ~~~~~~~~~

Why does this technique work? Many hypnotists who teach this method are not able to explain why the method works, nor explain why one helper (person) in the chain sometimes fails and why occasionally, a multiple number of people are required in the chain before the technique works. Many teachers will tell you “If you follow the instructions ‘it just works’. I don’t know why it works, but it does.” In his recordings, Dave Elman [11] asked some of his volunteers why they thought that the going through a chain of intermediary people worked for them. Dave Elman said that for every patient, there seemed to be a different answer, and so he was not entirely sure why it worked, but it worked. As we work through the outline techniques below, I will reveal how and why these indirection techniques work, and offer some short cuts to make it all easier, and ideas to make the technique more manageable in the real world. While many hypnotists will find this section interesting, it is all a bit of a moot point. The typical hypnotist is unlikely to see the Communication Seal in their office. The only time most hypnotists will ever see this type of seal is during a training course. ~~~~~~~~~

Indirection - Variation 1 Authors Note: This is one of those rare times that I advocate reading from a prepared script. Keeping a list of names in a long chain of helpers can be a nightmare, and will, without a doubt, will cause um’ing, stuttering and slip-ups when going through the sequences of helpers’ names and instructions. Preparation and rehearsing with the helpers is essential if you are to make this technique go smoothly and successfully. ~~~~~~~~~ This is an often-cited example of how to break the seal when the client has been given suggestions

that they are unable to understand or hear the hypnotist. That is to say, the hypnotist cannot communicate their instructions to the client. The chances are the original suggestions for placing the seal went something like, “No matter what the hypnotist says, you are unable to understand them. The hypnotists may sound as if they are speaking a foreign language that you are unable to understand. On the other hand, maybe the hypnotists is speaking in a totally different way, or making sounds that you cannot make any sense out of. Whatever the hypnotist is doing, the result is that you cannot understand what they are saying, and you are unable to follow anything they say to you” In this case, as the hypnotist cannot directly communicate with the client and so the solution is to use another person as an intermediary in between the hypnotist and the client, and because the client cannot hear or understand you (the hypnotist), you tell someone, an intermediary, who the client does not identify as a hypnotist, to pass on your instructions to the client. This indirection improves the chances that the client will be able to hear and accept the instructions. The instructions you use will be the same as those typically encountered in a seal-breaking training class, and these can be adapted for use in your office. While the example below is used when there are problems emerging the client, the same technique can be adapted for other scenarios, such as getting around an Entry Seal. Imagine you are the hypnotist, Alice, and your assistant is Bob. The client is named Juliette, then a typical scenario may be: Alice says: “Bob, please tell Juliette, that in a few moments, she is going to begin to emerge from hypnosis” Bob says: “Juliette, in a few moments you are going to begin to emerge from hypnosis” Alice says: “Bob, tell Juliette, when I ask you to, you are going to count from one to three. When you say the number one, then - here you will give your emerging instructions” Bob says: “Juliette, when I ask you to, you are going to count from one to three. When you say the number one, then - here you will give your emerging instructions” These steps are then repeated for each up-count step of the emerging process. ~~~~~~~~~ This works because the client does not consider Bob to be the hypnotist, and as such, Juliette can hear everything that Bob says to her. However, this level of indirection is sometimes not enough. Occasionally you need two helpers, or intermediaries, and sometimes even more intermediaries. Anecdotal stories suggest that as many as five or, occasionally, seven helpers have been needed. You can then end up in a situation such as: Alice says: “Bob, tell Carol to tell Dave to tell Eric to tell Juliette that in a few moments, you are going to begin to emerge from hypnosis” Bob says: “Carol, tell Dave to tell Eric to tell Juliette that in a few moments, you are going to

begin to emerge from hypnosis” Carol says: “Dave, tell Eric to tell Juliette that in a few moments, you are going to begin to emerge from hypnosis” Dave says: “Eric, tell Juliette that in a few moments, you are going to begin to emerge from hypnosis” Eric says: “Juliette, in a few moments, you are going to begin to emerge from hypnosis” and so forth I have never used, or witnessed, this length of chain with a client in real life, though I have seen one used during training courses using a volunteer who had accepted the seal for training and demonstration purposes. This indirection method can be varied in many ways to produce even better seal-bypassing processes. Here are some variations of this process. ~~~~~~~~~

Indirection - Variation 2 The hypnotist changes the sequence of the people in the chain each time, for example, Round One. Alice says: “Bob, tell Carol to tell Dave to Tell Eric to tell Juliette” Resulting in the chain: Alice, Bob, Carol, Dave, Eric, Juliette Bob, Carol, Dave, Eric, Juliette Carol, Dave, Eric, Juliette Dave, Eric, Juliette Eric, Juliette Round Two. Alice says: “Carol, tell Bob to tell Eric to tell Dave to tell Juliette” Resulting with the chain: Alice, Carol, Bob, Eric, Dave, Juliette Carol, Bob, Eric, Dave, Juliette Bob, Eric, Dave, Juliette Eric, Dave, Juliette

Dave, Juliette Each round uses a different sequence in the chain. ~~~~~~~~~

Indirection - Variation 3 The people in the chain select one another at random, for example, Alice says: “Carol, get this message to Juliette” Carol says: “Bob, get this message to Juliette” Bob says: “Dave, get this message to Juliette” and so forth This makes is a bit easier for the helpers to maintain continuity of the message, avoids confusing and prescribed long chains of names, and adds some randomness to further break down the ‘five plus or minus two’ focus of attention. We talk a little more about the ‘five plus or minus two’ idea in a moment. Or you can read more about its origins in the bibliography entry [20]. From a client’s perspective, adding this variation also contributes a degree of confusion as the client cannot maintain any pattern to the message delivery chain. ~~~~~~~~~

Indirection - Variation 4 This is another, simplified, form of Variation 1). The helpers have a pre-ordained order. You do not need to use any names, except perhaps for the client’s name. The hypnotist passes the message to B, who passes it to C, to D, etc. The hypnotist simply says: “Juliet, in a few moments you are going to emerge from hypnosis” Then the helpers, in turn, pass this message along the chain. No names are needed; each person in the chain knows who is giving them the message and who to pass the message to. ~~~~~~~~~ A good exercise to try out is one I sometimes use within hypnosis courses. Using a role-play game with the Variation 1) process, we can illustrate the points of confusion and other difficulties that can arise when using a predefined chain of people to pass a message from Alice to Juliette.

I use the letters as an abbreviation for this book. In the actual exercise, use the people’s real names. The point is to see how the technique can easily mess up when used in the real world. Have a total of seven people in a message passing chain. Then send a message from the first person to the person at the end of the chain. A says; “B, tell C to tell D, to tell E, to tell F, to tell G “some hypnosis instruction Then that becomes: B says; “C, tell D to tell E, to tell F, to tell G “some hypnosis instruction and so forth, until the hypnotic instruction is finally delivered, along the chain, to Person G Then keep repeating this, giving a typical sequence of suggestions and instructions to induce trance or else emerge Person G (the client). This will give you a good feel as to how this process will work in the real world, and give you an appreciation as to how cumbersome it can be. If you are going to try this out, for a laugh you can also see how long it takes to get a message from the hypnotist to the client. See if you can speed the process up by speaking a bit faster, and passing the message on quicker, etc. As a learning exercise, it can be quite a lot of fun. If you are an instructor, your students will have fun, and they will learn a lot more about the overall process. Time yourselves in the exercise, for example, how long does it take to give a full set of instructions to break a seal? Note: With the above indirection methods, then the hypnotist (in this case, Alice, the message originator) may want to whisper the messages to the next person in the chain, and then the message is sent along the rest of chain as a whisper. The idea is that the client cannot hear the original message nor where the message originated. The client only hears the message when it arrives with them. This helps break down any association to the hypnotist who giving the suggestions. Remember that dissociation is one of the keys to this process. ~~~~~~~~~

Attention Span and Focus of Attention Why do we need all these levels of indirection? Why do we need all these people in the chain? What is this indirection idea all about? Go and ask just about any hypnotist and trainer as to why this level of indirection is needed and why it works. If not all, then nearly all hypnotists and trainers will answer that they don’t know why it works, it just does. Don’t be down on them, they are just reflecting their own training. We can shed some light on this question. The answer is really quite simple and obvious when you know.

~~~~~~~~~ Many factors are involved - and yes, it is still quite simple. Firstly, in hypnosis, the mind is in a focussed state of awareness. The idea that hypnotic suggestions only come out of the hypnotist’s mouth is not necessarily the way that the receiving mind perceives it as happening. That is, if the hypnotist is telling Bob to give instructions to Juliette, then Juliette may still perceive that the hypnotist is giving the instructions, even though Bob is passing the actual message to Juliette. This still triggers the seal, even though it is Bob giving the suggestion rather than the hypnotist. An old saying, which is a good generalisation, states that the human mind can only focus on five plus or minus two things at once. While the unconscious mind can still be running in a mostly parallel way, the focus of attention can be quite limited. Remember that hypnosis is popularly considered to be ‘focused attention’. The client is in hypnosis and is in a state of focused attention. Depending on the client, you might need to have up to five plus or minus two levels of indirection before the mind can dissociate the hypnotist from the instructions being given (along the chain). That is it in a nutshell. You need to get sufficient levels of indirection so that the client can dissociate the instructions away from the hypnotist. Once you achieve this dissociation away from the hypnotist, the client can hear the instructions again. A longer chain introduces an increased dissociation. It also introduces an element of confusion, which is also another excellent hypnotic technique. This notion that the human mind can only consciously focus on five plus or minus two items of cognition derives from the research undertaken by cognitive psychologist George A. Miller of Harvard University, who published his paper on this matter in 1956 [20]. ~~~~~~~~~ You can try the principle out for yourselves as a fun game. The next time you meet up with a hypnosis group and explore some new techniques, then, try this exercise. Hypnotise a willing volunteer, Juliette, into somnambulism. Give the instruction. “I want you to focus on what is being said directly to you.” Have a chain of people available. Now ask Juliette to repeat back a random message. Alice says; “Juliette, repeat after me, ‘The sun rises every day’” Juliette says; “The sun rises every day” Now ask Alice says; “Juliette, ‘What is the name of the person who said gave you that message?’”

Juliette probably replies, “Alice” Repeat this a few times with different messages. ~~~~~~~~~ Now bring Bob into the chain. Alice says: “Bob, tell Juliette, repeat after me, ‘The sun rises every day’” Bob says: “Juliette, repeat after me, ‘The sun rises every day’” Juliette says: “The sun rises every day” Alice says: “Bob, ask Juliette, ‘What is the name of the person who gave you that message?’” Bob says: “Juliette, what is the name of the person who gave you that message?” Juliette replies, “Bob” Alice says: “Bob, say to Juliette: Juliette, ‘where did that message come from?’” Bob says: “Juliette, ‘where did that message come from?’” (The answer will probably be ‘Alice’, though it will depend on the individual). Juliette replies, “Alice” Next, add another person into the chain. Now this is where things get interesting and the five plus or minus two effect comes in. Juliette may be able to answer that Alice was the originator of the message or she may not. This depends on how Juliette responds, and also to Juliette’s ‘five plus or minus two’ inherent ability. When running this experiment, as you add more people into the chain, then at some point Juliette will only be able to backtrack so far before the message chain gets broken and the originator of the message is no longer in Juliette’s sphere of awareness. Once the originator of the message is no longer associated as being the hypnotist, the client is able to accept the message. This is the same effect as adding more people into the chain when breaking the Communication Seal. You can repeat this role-play using the Variation 1), 2), 3) and 4) techniques for breaking the Communication Seal described previously. See how tongue-tied you get using each of the techniques. You will also discover which variation is the best at establishing dissociation of the message from the hypnotist. ~~~~~~~~~

Breaking the Communication Seal itself

Up to now, we have just been examining the process of how to get suggestions from the hypnotist, along a chain of one or more helpers, to the sealed client. Once you have the client accepting the suggestions, then breaking the seal is a cinch. You pass a message along the chain stating that: “Anybody that you choose to work with will be able to give you suggestions get you into a hypnotic trance, and emerge you out of hypnosis, back to your everyday waking awareness” Repeat this message, sending it along the chain a few of times. The hypnotist then speaks directly to the client, as opposed to using a helper-chain. The hypnotist then says something along the lines of: “From here on, anybody that you choose to work with will be able to put you into a hypnotic trance” “You understand and accept this, don’t you?”; Note the use of a leading question Once the client has accepted this suggestion (which is loaded with a waking suggestion) then you need to test your work. Emerge the client, give them a moment, and then put them back into hypnosis. Restate to the client that they can now be hypnotised, accept suggestions, and be emerged from hypnosis with anyone they choose to work with. Note: You will need to alter the technique slightly depending on how the Communication Seal has been combined with any other seal. For example, it is often the case that the Communication Seal has been combined with the Entry Seal or Exit Seal. *****

Chapter 31- Breaking the Ignore Suggestions Seal ~~~~~~~~~ Remember that with this seal, the client can hear and fully understand the hypnotist. The client has been given instruction to ignore suggestions for therapeutic change. The client can still follow nontherapeutic instructions and suggestions, such as those for the hypnotic induction and emerging. For the naïve seal placer, this can be quite a weak seal. A sudden, loud, startling command (shout) in the hypnosis session can quite easily get the client’s attention and effectively bypass the seal. Some simple techniques can be used that make this seal impervious to being broken through shouting, and so shouting a sudden instruction is not really a viable seal breaking technique. Some hypnosis training courses and training manuals did actually teach shouting as a viable and practical technique for breaking seals. Shouting at a client is not a particularly professional way of dealing with a seal. With this in mind, the finer details of this (shouting) technique have been omitted from the book. The last thing you need is to introduce post-traumatic stress in the client. In practice, a good method of removing this seal is to use indirection in much the same way as described earlier in the method for countering the Communication Seal. Alternatively, another straightforward indirection technique that will work well is to use indirection, and have the client remember backwards, just as if the other hypnotist was working backwards too. For example; “Remember when you were hypnotised before, and the other hypnotist gave you instructions to ignore suggestions” “I want you to pretend or imagine that the hypnotist is giving you those instructions again, and this time they are giving you the instructions in reverse order” Rather than waste space with a line-by-line collection of instructions, in summary: you take the client backwards though the steps used by the seal-placing hypnotist. You get the client to a point before the ‘ignore suggestions’ instructions were given. You can then explain to the client that they have been following your suggestions, that the old suggestions given by the other hypnotist are no longer valid, and that the client will now be able to accept any suggestions from any hypnotist that they choose to work with and so forth. Note: this is not a regression technique. Rather, it is running backwards over the client’s mental timeline and back to when the seal was being placed. This technique uses recollection, not revivification. Remember to again test that the seal is broken by setting up therapeutic post-hypnotic suggestions of your own, setting a trigger, and then, when the client is fully emerged from hypnosis, fire off the triggers and check that the suggestions have been accepted and acted upon. How to do this testing was covered earlier in the book. *****

Chapter 32 - Breaking the Self-Seal ~~~~~~~~~ The main importance here is that the client must want to have the seal broken, or at least have the seal temporarily bypassed so that a particular intervention can be performed. If the seal has been installed deliberately, then the easiest way of bypassing the seal is to ask the client to remove it. The client is going to know whether, or not, they have intentionally given themselves a seal. The key is “intentionally given themselves a seal.” If there is an actual real Self-Seal, then any of the previously described indirection techniques may be put to use. Another good technique here is to use an instant induction and instantly regress to before the time that the seal was placed. If there isn’t a real seal, and the client is simply reacting to a fear, then treat the client exactly as you would do would with a nervous first-time client. Spend time explaining hypnosis, what it is, what it is not. Educate the client and put the client at ease. Give a comprehensive, brilliant pre-talk. Do not skip any part of your pre-talk; make sure that you touch all the bases, so to speak. If there is a seal, then there are no special Self-Seal breaking techniques needed. You just need to use the techniques described earlier. You may need to think outside of the box at times, adapting the techniques to suit the situation. If you attempt an induction and fail, then simply ask the client why they are not able to enter hypnosis. Ask whether anyone has ever tried to hypnotise them before. If they have and failed to go into hypnosis, then ask the client what the hypnotist said to them as to why they could not go into hypnosis. Do not suggest this, but listen to see if the client says that their hypnotist said something like; “Do you think you may have a hypnotic seal?” Remember, this statement alone is enough for a client to give themselves a ‘self-seal’. The client may not have been able to enter hypnosis with that particular hypnotist, then when that hypnotist mentions a seal, suddenly the client’s mind has an explanation and a cause. The client’s mind seals itself, which is then reinforced by the fact that they could not enter hypnosis at that time and with that particular hypnotist. It is similar to a selffulfilling prophecy. A paranoid (anti-hypnosis) client could give themselves seal along with trigger words for posthypnotic behaviours. If you suspect that a client has placed a Self-Seal because they have some form of paranoia, I would firstly say to you (the hypnotist); “What the hell are you doing attempting to hypnotise this person in the first instance?”. If the client is that paranoid that they have sealed themselves, then you need to tread with great care. What sort of anti-hypnosis fear or belief do they have that they feel the need to use self-hypnosis to seal themselves hypnotically. If you suspect any kind of mental health issue, and unless you are a licenced medical practitioner with the relevant training, then stop and refer that client on to a place where they can get the appropriate help. However, if you are working with a client who has been hypnotised by an unethical person working within an alternative lifestyle community, then you may come across this Self-Seal. It can happen that a particularly unethical dominant has instilled a sense of paranoia (or other fear) into the client

so that they feel forced stay away from other hypnotists / dominants. As a result, the client may establish a Self-Seal to avoid that fear. Again, you should tread very, very carefully in these areas. The client’s well-being is paramount. *****

Chapter 33 - Breaking the Seal - Some Alternative Methods ~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes, if the previous methods do not seem to work, you may need to consider using different techniques. Recall some useful bits and pieces. Firstly: Most seals relate to the hypnotic process. The seals are triggered when there is an attempt to induce hypnosis, emerge out of hypnosis, or when suggestions are given during the trance itself. Therefore, in this respect, the client acts upon the trigger when they become aware that they are being: - Hypnotised - Being given suggestions - Being emerged The seal does not necessarily cause the client to reject everything a hypnotist says. The client may just reject parts of the hypnotic process, or possibly all of the hypnotic process. Secondly: To trigger these post-hypnotic suggestions, the client has to be aware that the hypnotist is actively engaging in the hypnotic process. Thirdly: What is hypnosis? The bypass of the critical factor of the conscious mind, and the establishment of acceptable selective thinking. In a nutshell, to bypass and break a seal, what we need to do is: - Ensure that the client is unaware that we are running through a hypnotic process. This way, we can avoid triggering a post-hypnotic suggestion - Bypass the client’s critical factor, and get the client into a state of focused attention (acceptable selective thinking) Now this is where those strange and often unusual inductions taught in many of the better hypnosis courses can come in useful. You are looking for a technique whereby you can give suggestions to the client without the client realising that they are being hypnotised or are going into trance. The less familiar the technique, the less likely the client will recognise that they are being taken into hypnosis, or out of hypnosis. If the client remains unaware that the process you are using is a hypnotic induction, then the induction can be customised, tailored, and used to break the Entry, or other, Seal. ~~~~~~~~~

Dave Elman In the audio recording of his “Complete Medical Hypnosis Course” the famed hypnotist Dave Elman [11], describes two ways of breaking an Entry Seal. To break the seal, Dave Elman demonstrates the use of two unusual inductions to get past the critical factor. Dave Elman uses an induction that relies on the client wringing their hands or twisting an object around in their hands. Dave Elman does not specify what the object is in the recording. Dave asks the client to twist the object around in their hands, telling them to go faster. The more they twist the more they find that they cannot stop. The harder they try to stop, the faster it goes. Now while the client’s focus is on the suggestions for twisting the object, note no hypnotic words have been used, Dave Elman asks the client to close their eyes. Dave Elman then does a finger-snap and says ‘sleep’. The client is then deepened and suggestions given to remove the seal. A very similar technique is described by William Duby [4]. Here, the item used is a rolled up sheet of paper that is twisted back and forth in the hands. Another Entry Seal breaking technique that Dave Elman demonstrated was the finger bend induction. The client is asked to copy the movement of Dave Elman’s finger. The client is told that the hypnotist’s finger is rigid, so rigid that it will not move. The client is asked to copy this so that their finger is also rigid then, further suggestions are given to the client for them to copy the hypnotist’s finger. Note: The client is not asked to move their finger, rather they are asked to see if they can copy the hypnotist’s finger movements. For example, “I want to see if you can make your finger as rigid as mine” This is a suggestion, not a direct instruction. Then the client is told, “As my finger starts to bend, your finger is going to start to bend.” They (the client) find that their finger starts to bend. Couple this with an up count, for example, “Two, as your finger starts to bend, you find that as your finger bends more and more your eyes begin to close, closing more and more as your finger bends more and more” You develop these instructions until the client’s eyes are closed. Dave Elman then goes into the process of an eye catalepsy test followed by a fading-numbers deepener with embedded testing. This is done much in the same way as Dave Elman used for his induction process, the now famed Dave Elman induction. As the client responds more and more, you will get to the point where the critical factor is bypassed, and the hypnotist has the client’s focused attention. The client is now at a point where they can be given and accept suggestions. As soon as the critical factor has been bypassed and the client responds to the suggestions, the seal is broken. Dave Elman also combined seal breaking instructions into the eye catalepsy and number-fading part of the process.

For example, Dave Elman used something similar to: “...” “Now your eyes are locked completely, they just won’t open at all. They are locked and sealed, and the seal is broken, completely broken” “...” “Now make the numbers disappear. Just let the numbers disappear, and as the numbers disappear, the seal disappears, fades away until it has totally gone” “...” For the exact technique and words that Dave Elman used, then refer to his recordings “The Complete Medical Hypnosis Course” [11] Please note that Dave Elman worked long and hard to develop the right phrasing and words for his techniques and inductions. To make effective use of Dave Elman’s techniques, the reader will benefit greatly by being familiar with Dave Elman’s original wording and delivery. Dave Elman developed his techniques as processes and not just as scripts. ~~~~~~~~~

Instant Induction Some hypnotists advocate the use of an instant induction to break certain seals. This is all well and good if the client is unaware that the hypnotist is getting the client to go into hypnosis. If the client is aware that the instant induction is attempting to get them to go into hypnosis, then this can immediately trigger the seal’s post-hypnotic suggestion and, for example, it might cause the client to emerge again. However, saying that, if you do use an instant induction, this can work really well if: - The client has not been given trigger words - Or else you, the hypnotist, avoid using ‘trigger’ words in the deepener You should have a working knowledge with some of the common forms of instant inductions such as are the arm pull, finger-snap, hand drop or whatever instant inductions that you were taught during your training courses. Remembering back to your instant induction training; when you start talking to maintain the hypnotic state, then it’s not so much what you say, rather, it more important that you keep talking to maintain the hypnotic state. So the secret here is that as soon as you fire off the instant induction then keep talking, keeping in mind that you may need to avoid using the more common ‘trigger’ words such as relax, deeper. For example, a deepener that avoids possible common trigger words could be: “Allow yourself to go further into this comfortable feeling” ~~~~~~~~~ The Hypnotist Gil Bone is said to have used instant inductions to bypass the Entry Seal.

“It is easily overcome by using an instant induction and/or a regression to the time the effort to seal them was made and then suggest ‘It is now gone’. With Respect, Gil Bone” ~~~~~~~~~ The instant induction is still an excellent way of bypassing an Entry Seal, however, it is not always 100% effective. In days gone by it probably would have been more effective that it is today. The reason for this dilution of effectiveness is that the seal may have been placed with a suggestion such as: “As soon as anyone attempts to hypnotise you, your eyes will open and you will instantly and immediately return to your normal waking consciousness” With the vast amount of information available on the internet and other places, the instant induction is more likely to be recognised for what it is. As soon as the client recognises the induction it could trigger any of the seal’s post-hypnotic suggestions that may have been placed. This can cause the client to emerge immediately (or to perform whatever other behaviour that may have been set against the trigger). These days, people are often very familiar with the various instant induction methods such as the arm-pull, hand-drop, handshake, etc. The internet and other forms of media make this information readily available. However, there are ways to improve the chances of getting an instant induction to work and bypass the Entry Seal. The answer is simple. Go for an instant induction that the client is unlikely to recognise. A rarer instant induction is to give a quick sharp pat on the shoulder for the trigger, or a sharp slap on a desk. As soon as the client has been ‘startled’, fire the “Sleep” instruction and then follow immediately with a suitable deepener. The instant inductions just described can be loosely classed as members of the shock induction family. You are not limited to a shock instant induction. A myriad of other instant inductions exist, including the pattern interrupt inductions. Just make sure that the induction you use is not in everyday common use and that it is not easy to find in the popular public domain such as the internet. You want a technique that the client is not going to recognise, or at least not recognise immediately. Bear in mind that during the deepening, you will also need to avoid potential ‘trigger’ words that may also have been implanted along with the seal. I repeat the information given earlier: “Recall from your instant induction training whether it be the arm pull, finger-snap, hand drop or whatever. When you start to talk to maintain the state, then it is not so much what you say, it is that you keep talking. So the secret here is that as soon as you fire off the instant induction, then keep talking, and avoid the more common ‘trigger’ words such as relax, deeper, etc” ~~~~~~~~~

Instant Regression Some techniques do not lend themselves that well to breaking the Ignore Suggestions or

Communication Seal. Much depends on how the other hypnotist installed the seal and the associated triggers. You might get the client past the induction, but then in the middle of the session, the client cannot understand you, what then? What if the seal’s post-hypnotic suggestion were something along the lines of: “You will ignore any suggestions given to you, except for those suggestions that will take you into hypnosis or emerge you out of hypnosis” If the other techniques do not work, then an ‘olde faithful’ is the Instant Regression. You first need to do some set up work. Do not do any hypnosis at this point. Just get the client’s imagination ‘fired up’ Have the client remember the time when they were with the hypnotist who placed the seal. Then have the client recall the scene vividly, sight, sound smell, the feeling of the couch or chair and so forth You need to build up the client’s imagination as much as possible. Once that is set up, then we employ a DRT (dirty rotten trick) We use an instant induction and, at the same time, regress the client. Note that you do not use a rapid induction. You use an instant induction. A gentle shock induction is excellent for this purpose. Note when I say shock induction, it may just be a finger-snap, a fast gentle arm pull, or just a loud slap on a desk. The whole point is to work at speed, never allowing the client’s-mind time to realise what is happening. When the instant induction is deployed, then you do not use a traditional deepener. Instead, you immediately fire off the suggestion so that the client is back with the (seal placing) hypnotist at the very start of the session just after they have undergone the induction; which will be the time before the seal has been put into place. To get the client back to this particular point should be straightforward because you have already done the work to set up the scenario in their mind; this is you got the client to make the memory vivid in their imagination and recollection of the situation. As an example, I may use a finger-snap instant induction. I personally like this instant induction and I find that it works really well. To use a finger-snap (or other instant induction) with this seal breaking technique, you must get the client’s imagination fired up and get the client into a suitable frame of mind. Then: (Finger-Snap) “Imagine that you are back with and you have just entered trance with them” “You are right back there at the time before has given you any suggestions”

“You hear the hypnotist, and you may be aware of how the office smells, you may be aware of any sounds, aware of the sensation of the ” (The leading is deliberate) Now work hard to build up the experience in the client’s mind so that the client is totally immersed and back-in-the-moment. After you give the initial regression instructions, make sure that you use current tense language. You want to achieve revivification, not recall. If you are uncertain what all this actually means, then you should consider being trained in regression techniques. Go to a good school for this training. For the deepener, just keep talking to the client, there is no need to use any deepening phrases whatsoever, keep building upon their past session. In fact, it would be best to avoid using common deepening words and phrases. Again, if you are not sure why you do not need actual deepening phrases with this type of instant induction, then you should consider attending some training classes in these techniques. Make sure that the client is revivifying the experience. Now you have the client back at the point where they have entered hypnosis, but before the seal has been placed. Emphasise to the client that they can communicate and understand you. Explain that the suggestions that the other hypnotist gave to prevent the client from accepting suggestions are no longer valid. “You can now hear, understand and accept any suggestion given to you by any hypnotist. You are able to accept any suggestion you choose to accept and from anyone you choose to work with” “Any suggestions were preventing you from understanding or accepting suggestions are now gone and have been permanently removed. They are gone forever” and so forth I would like to stress again that you do not try this method unless you have thoroughly trained in regression techniques. Make sure that you do not lead the client. Take them back to the specific point in time and let the client drive the experiences. Again, as mentioned elsewhere, you can also use the Emotionally Induced Regression (EIR) and in terms of breaking seals, using an EIR really is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. In the context of seal breaking, the use of an EIR is not really appropriate. ~~~~~~~~~

Multiple Hypnotists Another seal breaking method that is effective is to use two or three hypnotists issuing a series of suggestions. One suggestion is given by the first hypnotist, and then next hypnotist gives the next suggestion, and so forth. You move back and forth between the hypnotists with each suggestion.

This works in much the same way as the indirection method mentioned previously. Having two or more hypnotists involves a combination of indirection, distraction, and confusion. The suggestions are coming from different places all the time, overloading the mind, and bypassing the critical factor. The process will also start to bring the five plus or minus two cognitive limit into effect. Again, this is a technique that should be rehearsed before being used. This technique also benefits from using a pre-written set of suggestions. Having continuity and flow will have noticeably better results than if you stutter and stumble your way through this technique. ~~~~~~~~~

Contradiction or Conflict Method The Contradiction Method is also sometimes called the Cognitive Dissonance Method or Conflict Method. As yet, I have been unable to trace the original source of this technique. Those people who have tried the Conflict Method in real world cases of the seal, say it is effective. I have never used it in real-life, although I have taught and demonstrated it in training classes. You need a certain degree of confidence and competence, as a hypnotist, to make effective use of this method. In outline, the method goes: Consider a scenario; the client has been told (sealed) to ignore your suggestions. You then tell the client that: “You are in no way whatsoever to follow my suggestions or instructions” You repeat this two, or three times, with some different wording. You have to deliver these suggestions with total conviction You then point out to the client that by not following your instructions and suggestions, they have in fact have been following your suggestions (not to follow you). Highlight the contradiction that by not following your suggestions they have been following your suggestions, thereby demonstrating that the seal has been broken You can also use an anchor, such as touching a hand, when you tell the client to ignore the instructions. When you introduce the mental contradiction, then you can fire the triggers and collapse the anchor. In the real world, this technique is said to particularly useful for the Entry Seal and for the Communication Seal. If the client is not yet in trance, then this method is best used alongside an instant induction. As soon as the contradiction of not following-the-suggestions results in the client realising that they are following-the-instructions, you use an instant induction during that moment of contradiction and confusion. Once the client is in hypnosis, you can quickly go and deliver suggestions that the seal is broken, is permanently removed, and will no longer restrict what the client can and cannot experience in the hypnotic process. ~~~~~~~~~

Anchor Collapse

What is an anchor? An anchor is a way of quickly eliciting a state or emotion on demand. As an example, you ask the client to think of their happiest memory. Ask them to imagine this as strong and as powerfully as they can; be there; be back in the experience. When the client is at, or near, their peak of happiness, then anchor that feeling by, say, touching them on their right shoulder. Now get the client to reset their feelings by thinking about something entirely different (and I do not mean the “Now for something completely different” of the Monty Python kind). In the NLP world, this thinking about something different is known as ‘breaking state’. After a little while, you again get the client to think about and to re-experience their happiest memory all over again. When near or at the peak of the experience, again anchor it by using the same anchor. In the example above, a touch on the right shoulder was used as the anchor trigger. Repeat this a few times. Now the magic can happen. When you have set up the ‘state’ (in this case happiness) and the anchor (for example, touch on right shoulder), you can then elicit a state of happiness in the client by ‘firing the anchor’; in this instance by touching the client on their right shoulder. By setting up two conflicting, or opposite, mental or emotional states each with its own unique anchor, you can now simultaneously collapse both states by firing both anchors simultaneously. The anchors both fire, the elicited states conflict one another, and they both collapse taking the unwanted negative state away. You can get rid of a negative feeling by setting up an anchor for the negative feeling. You can now set up a ‘sacrificial’ positive state anchor to counter the negative state. You have separate anchors, one for each state. For example, one state is a touch to the right shoulder, the other state, a touch on the left shoulder. When you fire both anchors, they both collapse and you take down and eliminate the negative state that you want removed. If you set up this technique correctly, you can give more emphasis on the positive anchor and when you fire off both anchor triggers, the negative state collapses leaving only the positive state in the client. The positive state can then re-enforced as needed. By anchoring a seal and then setting up a counter state and anchor, you can use the anchor collapse technique to eliminate a seal. Typical steps for an Entry Seal: - Set up the first state. Build up the feeling of when someone tries and fails to hypnotise the client, and anchor it - Repeat as needed - Break state - Set up the second state. Build up the feeling of when the client was last in hypnosis. Anchor it with a different anchor - Repeat as needed - Break state

- Repeat all the above several times - When ready, fire both anchors, collapsing the anchored states taking the seal down with them Besides using the ‘can be’ versus ‘can’t be’ hypnotised states, instead, you can also use more emotional states such as “want to be hypnotised” and “can’t be hypnotised”. You may want to question the client and find out how they “feel” when they cannot go into trance, and how they feel (felt) when they do go into trance. Use these client emotions to build up the states and the anchors. You can use variants of this technique for the Entry, Emerging, Communication, and IgnoreSuggestions seals. ~~~~~~~~~

The Ambiguous Touch Handshake This is an excellent covert induction technique. This induction is also sometimes known as the Milton Erickson Handshake induction. You shake the client’s hand. At the end of the handshake, as you release the handshake, you gently touch parts of the client’s hand, for example, touching their fingers and the underneath of their hand with your pinkie finger. Ideally, you should watch some videos to see how this handshake is actually done. A few pictures are worth thousands of words. Some important points to remember when doing this induction: - You are looking to produce catalepsy in the client’s hand. At which point the client is already well on their way into hypnosis - When you release the handshake and go through the ambiguous touch part of the handshake, do not just slide your fingers along the inside of the client’s hand. They could quite easily misconstrue the movement as a ‘flirty’ gesture - You do not want to draw the client’s attention to what you are doing. Keep talking to the client; look them in the eyes. Do not lower your eyes to see what is happening at the hands. You want to have the client’s attention on you while the ambiguous touch is achieving catalepsy - This is one of those techniques that you need to practice ‘doing’ to become masterful at it The beauty of this technique is that while you are distracting the client’s conscious mind with your chatting, at the same time their unconscious mind is wrapped around the ambiguous touch that is happening on their hand and wrist. The critical factor is wide open for suggestions to get through to the client’s subconscious. Remember that you may need to avoid some of the common deepening phrases as they might trigger post-hypnotic suggestions. Note that the Milton Erickson Handshake is very different from other forms of the handshake induction, such as the one attributed to Richard Bandler, the hand to face handshake. The ambiguous touch handshake induction is easily modifiable into a non-verbal induction.

~~~~~~~~~

The Hand-To-Face Handshake Induction This Hand-To-Face Handshake induction is sometimes called the ‘Bandler Handshake’, after Richard Bandler. This induction is essentially a pattern interrupt with confusion. You go to shake hands with the client. The client almost automatically responds by reaching out with their hand to return the handshake. At this point, instead of grasping the client’s hand with a handshake, you reach out with your other hand, gently hold their wrist, and raise their hand so that the client’s palm is facing their own face. With the other hand (the one you originally used to instigate the handshake), you point to (do not touch) the palm of the client’s hand and draw their attention to something on their hand. For example, “Look at this point on your hand”, or “Look at these lines on your hand”. Once you have the pattern interrupt (the handshake that did not complete) and their focus of attention on their hand, you can give suggestions for their eyes to become heavy, close or whatever. Remember to avoid the common deepening phrases that might have been placed in order to trigger any post-hypnotic suggestions that may interfere with the hypnotic process. This seemingly simple induction uses a number of techniques to bring about hypnosis, the pattern interrupt, focus of attention, confusion, misdirection, and so on. ~~~~~~~~~

Utilisation This is not referring to the ideas of utilisation from an Ericksonian perspective. In the context of breaking a seal, the hypnotist may have to be thinking outside of the box and working on the fly. So if something happens that allows a hypnotist to utilise a situation then do so. For example, - A client in your office is no longer able to go into hypnosis. They can remember that they were given suggestions to prevent them going into hypnosis except for when it was with that same hypnotist. The client is tamping mad and angry. They are fuming. If you are trained in the technique, then at this point you can use the Emotionally Induced Regression (EIR) to take the client immediately and instantly back to the time when the seal was placed, and quickly address and remove the seal. OK, stated earlier, as far as seals are concerned, the use of EIR is the same as using a sledgehammer to break a nut. You should never need to use an EIR with a seal. However, if the client is already in a position where you can take them to a place where the seal can be quickly broken, then why loose the opportunity. Otherwise, the alternative is to talk the client back down to earth and then use one of the other techniques to go and address the seal - A client in your office, to all intent and purpose, cannot enter hypnosis. You have dispelled

their fears, tried your favoured induction (which ‘always works’), tried alternative inductions, yet still no success. You chat to the client and establish that the client has been in hypnosis before without any problem. In fact, the client is able to use self-hypnosis using a swinging pendulum whenever they desire. So what do you do next? Well, you give the client a weight on a string and get the client to use their self-hypnosis technique and enter into hypnosis by themselves. Once there you can use one of the seal breaking techniques You should be prepared to work with any opportunity that presents itself. Do not fight these opportunities; grasp them as, and when, they present themselves. Be flexible and do not follow any process too rigidly. Saying that, seal breaking processes have been evolving, and many of the current techniques are the result of the distillation of older techniques that have been developed over time. ~~~~~~~~~

Confusion Milton Erickson is said to have been adept at using confusion to induce hypnosis with his clients. The point here is that you can use confusion techniques to take someone into hypnosis without them realising that they are indeed going into hypnosis. As outlined in the book “Hidden Depths” page 307 [18], Milton Erickson, through the use of small talk, confusing tenses and contradictory statements, brought about a sense of confusion to his clients. The client being given a continuous and successive stream of confusing statements tends to get more and more mentally frustrated, to the point where the mind is actually looking forward to being presented with clean, clear, and concise information. After the confusing information has been delivered for a period of time then, when the client is given clear instructions and suggestions for entering and deepening trance, the client tends to follow these instructions and enter into hypnosis easily, without question. Performed in the correct way, these confusion techniques can be used to bypass Entry Seals and Communication Seals. However, these techniques can take longer than for some of the other techniques because the correct frame of mind has to be nurtured in the client before the suggestions for entering trance are given. This technique is not going to be a first choice in seal breaking techniques, but it is still another tool in your hypnotic seal-breaking tool kit. *****

Chapter 34 - Hints and Tips ~~~~~~~~~

Dealing with amnesia Many techniques can be used to remove suggested amnesia from the client. These techniques are essentially the same as the techniques used during a normal hypnosis session to addresses memory recall - that is to say, a hypnosis session that is not specifically geared up to address, bypass and remove a seal. Two techniques that are found to be very effective are: - The first technique is to use regression. Regress to before the point where suggestions for amnesia were implanted. Avoid giving suggestions such as “You will remember everything.” Instead, you should use suggestions that will allow the client to have subconscious control of their memories For example; “You will remember as much as you choose to, and as little or as much as your subconscious mind allows you to remember” As the hypnotist, you need to wrap these suggestions up and make them specific to the memories you want to recover, in this case, the recall of the seal placing session - The second technique is to use the same indirection method that used when addressing the Communication Seal For example; “Imagine that you are back with the hypnotist who gave you the suggestions. Imagine that hypnotist giving you these suggestions all over again. However, this time, you will be able to recall everything that the hypnotist said to you; it is as if you have your own private taperecorder running, and even if that hypnotist asks you to forget what they said to you, the recorder keeps running and keeps an exact copy of what was said to you. When you emerge from hypnosis, you will have full and total access to this recorded information. You are be able to access any part of the recording that your subconscious mind chooses to allow” In both the above techniques, notice that the client is given control of what they will subconsciously allow themselves to remember. In everyday hypnosis (hypnotherapy), this is always good practice. The client is able to remember only those bits of information that they feel able to deal with. So why do this selective memory recall with a seal session? We do not expect the client to have a problem with ‘bad’ memories here, or do we? Consider this; you do not know what the emotional state of the client was when the seal was implanted. The client may have been fuming with anger, confused or just plain upset at what was happening to them. You let the client have control to recall as much or as little of this as they feel necessary.

Another problem that can happen is a programmed reaction that an unethical seal-installer may have installed. Although I have avoided it in the main text, the really unethical hypnotist can set a trigger and post-hypnotic suggestion that causes the client to remember the worst thing that has ever happened to them, or even the recall the worst ‘imagined’ thing that they can conceive and then to treat it as a memory. This is absolutely the last thing that you want your client to (re) experience. Abreaction - one, hypnotist - nil. I cannot stress enough as to how unethical, immoral and unconscionable these particular seal installing techniques are. These techniques can so easily and unexpectedly result in an abreaction and unless great care is taken, false memories can be created. ~~~~~~~~~

Waking suggestion I am not certain that waking suggestion in itself can be effective in removing hypnotic seals. Some people in the NLP community assert that waking suggestion can be used to bypass and break hypnotic seals, although I have no direct experience of this being the case. However, waking suggesting is certainly a very useful technique in helping to ‘prime’ a client for a more traditional hypnotic trance. The use of hypnotic language patterns including the use of binds, double binds, and so forth, can certainly help set-up positive expectations and get the client engaged in the hypnotic process. ~~~~~~~~~

Waking hypnosis Waking hypnosis is another useful technique that you can use. While in itself, waking hypnosis is not used to break a sea directly, it is another technique that can be used to bypass the critical factor and establish acceptable selective thinking. ~~~~~~~~~

NLP This book primarily deals with hypnotic seals placed and removed through the techniques of hypnosis. We will mention that there are a couple of non-hypnosis techniques that people have reported to have had success with real clients, that is to say, in an everyday practice, and not just in teaching or demonstration environments using willing, informed volunteers. I am not going to delve in-depth into the individual NLP techniques. The techniques used in NLP is subject matter for a different book. Here is an outline of some of the techniques being reported to be successful. ~~~~~~~~~

Anchor Collapse Already mentioned earlier, a NLP anchor collapse can be used to break a seal. A high-level summary of the process is: - Set up an anchor for the ‘sealed’ state - Break state, repeat - Set up an anchor for the unsealed state - Break state, repeat - Simultaneously fire both anchors to trigger an Anchor Collapse ~~~~~~~~~

Fast Phobia Cure Use the cinema metaphor with dissociation to run back through the client’s mental timeline so that the seal is no longer there. ~~~~~~~~~

Swish technique To break a seal with the swish technique, you can use something along the lines of: - Take the sealed state - Take the wanted, unsealed, state, swish out the sealed state to the unsealed state ~~~~~~~~~

Metaphor From the NLP world, it is said that the metaphor can be an effective seal breaking technique. I have no direct experience as to the effectiveness of this technique, but I do include the general outline here. The use of metaphor can be used to get around an Entry Seal, Exit Seal. You might consider using a process similar to: - You get the client to imagine or visualise the seal as a ‘thing’; that could be a colour, a sound, a feeling, a smell, an object etc. Use whichever VAK mode that the client operates in the best - Once the client has an imagined representation of the seal (and its suggestions), then the representation is eliminated by whatever means appropriate for the modality in question. When the representation is eliminated, the seal is also eliminated along with all of the other unwanted suggestions

- For example, if the client sees the seal as a colour, then fade the colour away; if it is an object, shrink the object to nothing; if it is a sound, then fade the sound to a silence - This use of metaphor can be a long-winded method. Often, it can be very useful for some clients who do not respond as well to the more direct suggestions, in much the same way as different people react in different ways with paternal / maternal and direct / indirect hypnosis techniques. Providing an existential metaphor for the seal can be useful in some circumstances ~~~~~~~~~ On the NLP techniques, I am not providing any further information other than the above. My specialism is hypnosis. For those who want to discover the application of NLP for breaking seals, then I leave it up to the individual reader to research the NLP methods and to draw their own conclusions on their efficacy. ~~~~~~~~~

Autosuggestion and Self-Hypnosis People have reported that seals have been successfully removed by using self-hypnosis. I do not have direct experience of this, nor have met anyone who claims to have used this technique to remove a seal from themselves. The exceptions are those instances where the person has knowingly installed a Self-Seal to prevent themselves being hypnotised by other people. The reported cases where it is claimed that a seal has been removed through self-hypnosis, seem to have the following stages in common. - Think back to when you were last successfully hypnotised - Follow the instructions that were given by the hypnotist (who installed the seal) so that you enter hypnosis again - As you follow the instructions, take over the instructions for yourself, fade that hypnotist away and out of your imagination so that you take back control of whom can and cannot hypnotise you I cannot vouch for the efficacy of this method. ~~~~~~~~~

Audio recording Some people report that seals have been successfully removed by listening to audio hypnosisrecordings. Many variations of this technique exist, such as; off-the shelf recordings, self-made recordings, custom-made recordings and so on. Self-Recording The client records their own hypnosis tape, using instructions similar to those described in this book.

However, this technique, if it does indeed work, is very limited. Little or no room exists to adapt or modify the seal-breaking process on-the-fly. How do you change the audio recording on-the-fly? Unless the installed seal was very basic and followed a simple exact formulaic process, then I do not see how this can be an effective and real-world technique. ~~~~~~~~~ Off the Shelf Recordings In the past, there have been a number of ready-made ‘seal breaking’ off-the-shelf audio recordings for sale. This recorded audio is, by its very nature, prescribed, and there is no possibility of adapting or modifying the pre-recorded hypnotic process on the fly. Any deviation from a prescribed seal installation process will make the seal-breaking recording ineffective. Again, I cannot see how these would be effective in the real world for the same reasons as before. ~~~~~~~~~ Custom Made Recordings Occasionally on hypnosis forums, I have seen hypnotists offering to make customised and bespoke seal-breaking audio recordings. Again, I cannot see how these might be an effective technique except for simple, prescribed and formulaic seals. I have to ask myself, how does the hypnotist know what technique has been used to put the seal in place. Are there any untoward post-hypnotic suggestions? Are there trigger words? Are there any suggested unexpected behaviours? What happens if the seal-placer has set up a trigger to deliberately cause an abreaction in the client? This does not bear thinking about. ~~~~~~~~~ With these audio solutions, a number of phrases come to mind: - Opening a can of worms - Here be dragons - A fool and his money are soon parted All the pre-made recordings are, in my opinion, at best naïve and a waste of money. At their worst, they can leave a client in a worse condition than they were in the first instance. Also, remember that

the client will be listening to these audio recordings without any supervision or the presence of a hypnotist. What if the client undergoes an abreaction, how are they going to fare? *****

Chapter 35 - Trigger Words and Phrases ~~~~~~~~~

Longevity of suggestions As mentioned earlier in the book, you may need to consider the possibility that the person who installed the seal has also used and left certain triggers, such as words or phrases that could cause unexpected post-hypnotic behaviour. Stage hypnotists commonly suggest to their volunteers that every time the hypnotist says the word “xyzzyx”, then the volunteer will respond by doing a particular action or responding in some way or other to instructions that have been given by that stage hypnotist. In the same way, a hypnotist installing a seal can add post-hypnotic behaviours that are triggered by some phrase or action. Please note. I am not tarring stage hypnotists with the same brush as the seal-installers. In fact, many of the stage hypnotists I know are some of the most ethical hypnotists I know. I just wanted to use the idea of a post-hypnotic suggestion, as used in a stage hypnotism show, as an example of a post-hypnotic suggestion and its triggered behaviour. The most common triggers used by the less ethical seal installers are words that are used as part of the hypnotic process itself, whether this is in the induction, the intervention, or the emerging phases of the process. ~~~~~~~~~ I have not heard of any hypnotist who has encountered an ordinary, everyday real-world client who has been sealed with any of these following techniques. However, the use of these techniques is being seen more and more often, particularly within the alternative lifestyle communities. This is one area where the use of seals is reportedly increasing. The suggestions for these trigger - responses are in principle very simple. Using the suggestion in the example I am about to give will in all probability work with most clients - for a while. In order for these trigger and responses to be used effectively, and for the post-hypnotic suggestion to have some sort of longevity, then the hypnotist installing the seals and triggers needs to have a degree of knowledge and experience in the more advanced hypnosis techniques. As a simple example, the suggestion to install this trigger / response behaviour may go something like: - “Any time anyone other than myself attempts to hypnotise you, then when you hear the word ‘deep’ or the word ‘deeper’, you will immediately open your eyes, jump to your feet, and shout out, as loud as you are able to, the name ‘Geronimo’” ~~~~~~~~~

Suggestion Reinforcement Setting up this type of stage-hypnosis type of reaction (above) in the short-term is relatively simple. Stage hypnotists perform these types of routines all the time.

Getting this sort of reaction and its trigger to remain over a longer time-period is quite a different matter. What if you want this seal to be just as effective in many months’ time, rather than for just a few hours needed in a stage hypnosis show? Now, this is a slightly bigger challenge for the seal installer. The seal-installer usually needs to be a more experienced and accomplished hypnotist and be familiar with some of the more advanced tricks-of-the-trade. However, you do not always need to be an accomplished hypnotist to obtain this longevity of suggested behaviour. Hey, I have just totally contradicted myself. Consider this example. Say that in the situation of the alternative lifestyle community, a submissive visits their dominant on a monthly basis. In this situation, the dominant may be repeating the same suggestion on each and every visit, and so the hypnotic suggestion is being re-stated on a monthly basis. The dominant does not need to be an accomplished hypnotist with advanced training and experience to keep the suggestion active over time. They just get by on a month-by-month basis. This regular repetition reinforces (compounds) the suggestions. As an exercise, I leave it to the reader to research the history and development of the Dave Elman induction along with his “Three visits to Bernheim.” As a clue: That which took Hippolyte Bernheim several visits over several weeks to achieve with his own clients, Dave Elman did in less than three minutes. Now this is a very different situation where a seal installer, in a one-off session, puts the trigger and response in place so that the seal is still effective after many months or even years after its initial installation. Do I hear anyone shouting - “Ridiculous, this simply cannot be done”? Hmm. Does that mean that the therapeutic suggestions given by hypnotists (say for smoking cessation) cannot be effective over periods of years, or longer? When given in the correct way, hypnotic suggestion can be permanent (whatever permanent means). This of course all depends on many factors, such as client buy-in, client expectation, the skill of the hypnotist, and so on. ~~~~~~~~~ As mentioned earlier, it is not possible to be permanently “stuck” in hypnosis. But, by jove, you can certainly make it appear to be so to the outside world. You can find many videos made by street-hypnotists, where the hypnotists get their volunteers (aka victims) to perform, and sometimes do unusual, things. For example, there are a number of street hypnotists who appear turn their ‘volunteer’ into a living statue. The volunteer may remain frozen and statue like for hours. Many people shout “video trickery”. However, the truth is a little different. Indeed, it is possible to get these volunteers to remain statue-like for hours upon end without any intervention whatsoever from the hypnotist. Once the situation has been set up, the hypnotist can effectively walk away and the volunteer will remain there, statue like over an extended period of time. So is this volunteer stuck in hypnosis?

“Hell no.” (Sorry - the John Wayne quote comes to mind again). If a volunteer or client are left to their own devices they will naturally emerge from hypnosis, and return to their normal waking self (which was mentioned this earlier in the book) within a few minutes or maybe tens of minutes. However, you can easily extend the time that they remain in hypnosis by giving the client a suggestion to trigger a deepener. For example, a ‘living statue’ has been placed alongside and within the sound of a road. To maintain this statue-like state, a simplistic form of suggestion may go along the line of: “Every time you hear a car drive by, you are reminded to remain in hypnosis” The volunteer is continuously being re-triggered to remain in hypnosis. This is not the - exact - way it is done, but it is an accurate enough description of the technique to press the point home. A similar technique can be done to re-enforce post-hypnotic suggestions such as those used by seal installers. Some external event triggers a suggestion that maintains the efficacy of the seal’s suggestions. This is very much along the lines of the techniques by some (therapeutic) hypnotists that use triggers to reinforce their change work suggestions. An example of this is the hypnotist Tom Nicoli’s use of the phrase “Red, Red, Red”. Tom Nicoli sets up an association so that every time the client sees something coloured red, then the desired suggestions are post-hypnotically reinforced. ~~~~~~~~~ Why is all this important? Well, this is another reason that I said at the start of the book, and have been repeating (seemingly endlessly) ever since. Do not attempt to break a seal until you really know what you are doing. If you attempt to break a seal, and fail, then you are in danger of reinforcing the seal through repetition. Additionally you will most likely be compounding and reinforcing the trigger effects. For example, repetitively trying to emerge a client who is being re triggered to ‘go deeper’ over-andover will just compound and reinforce the trance and seal suggestions. This is easy to prevent when you know the how and why, but if you do not know the ‘how to’, and “why” then you can make matters worse for the client. ~~~~~~~~~

Key phrases and triggers The most common of key phrases and triggers used by particularly unethical seal installers are designed to cause some reaction in the client that makes it difficult for another hypnotist to use the hypnotic process with the ‘sealed’ client. In the context of the seal, the seal installer may just pick words or phrases that a hypnotist may typically use in the everyday hypnosis process. However, it may be that a sneakier hypnotist installing a seal may use a non-typical word or phrase for the same purpose in much the same way as the example mentioned earlier; - “Any time anyone other than myself attempts to hypnotise you, then when you hear the word

‘xyzzyx’ or the word ‘xyzzyx’, then you will” and so forth ~~~~~~~~~

Key phrases used with Entry Seals Here are some typical key words and phrases that could be used to trigger a seal or post-hypnotic behaviour during an induction: - Relax - Close your eyes down - Locked shut - Relax, or Relaxed - Deeper - Down deeper - Imagine that - Imagine you - Trance - Hypnosis - Think back - Remember what the hypnotist said to you - Hypnotist - Number ~~~~~~~~~

Key phrases used in Exit Seals Here are some typical key words and phrases that might be used to trigger a seal or post-hypnotic behaviour during emerging: - Emerge - Wake up - Exit - Leave hypnosis - Open your eyes

- Remember back - Think back - Hypnotist - Count - Number - Alert - Everyday ~~~~~~~~~ I shall spare you the pain of giving you any more lists of possible trigger words. What is important to remember is that you have to be thinking about the words and phrases that may have been used by a sneaky unethical hypnotist who put the seal in place. You will often be able to identify these words and phrases by noticing how the client reacts. The reaction to a trigger is usually quite obvious. ~~~~~~~~~

Sneaky Phrases and Words Besides the obvious and common phrases used during a hypnosis session, you also want to think about the sneakier words and phrases that could be used. Consider the outline for an Entry Seal suggestion: “Any time anyone other than myself attempts to hypnotise you, and you hear the word xyzzyx” Here you can pick any common everyday word, not just words you may typically associate with a hypnosis session; words such as; ‘and’, ‘because’, ‘or’, ‘feeling’, ‘comfortable’, ‘that’, ‘is’, ‘because’, and so forth. Sometimes in order to break and remove a seal, you will need to think along the lines of someone sneaky who is putting a seal in place, just so that you can deduce what is going on. Another sneaky trick that can be used in an attempt to disguise trigger words are suggestions along the lines of: “Each time you hear the hypnotist say the word ‘xyzzyx’, then in your mind, count slowly from one to five. When you reach the count of five, you will open your eyes and emerge from hypnosis” By adding a ‘time-delay’ to the post-hypnotic suggested behaviour, it becomes far less obvious what the trigger word or phrase is. However, the well-informed hypnotist (seal breaker) will still recognise that there are trigger words being used, even though it may not be immediately obvious what those words are. At this point, you can either; attempt to identify the words or preferably, switch to another seal breaking technique and avoid the firing off the triggers in the first place.

~~~~~~~~~

Behaviours and responses (triggered post-hypnotic suggestions) Triggered post-hypnotic responses and behaviours can literally be anything. They can be any action that will prevent the normal course of suggestion, for example, in an induction; your eyes pop open, or at an emergence; your eyes stick, lock shut and will not open. On the other hand, they could be something far more insidious, such as a physical (real or perceived) action that could make the client or hypnotist feel uncomfortable, even causing a client reaction that would scare both the client and hypnotist alike. Some examples are: - Eyes pop open - Get out of the chair and stand up - Shouting - Swearing, rudeness - Uncontrollable laughing - Uncontrollable crying - Aggression - Nausea - Vomiting - Client instantly goes into Esdail (hypnotic coma) - Unable to see the hypnotist (hypnotic visual hallucination) - Unable to hear the hypnotist (deafness - hypnotic auditory hallucination) - The hypnotist looks as if they are not wearing any clothes - Unable to understand hypnotist (they sound as if they are speaking in a foreign language) - Psychosomatic reaction (client becomes blind, has palpitations, has intense itchiness, feels intensely hot or cold) - Anxiety / panic attack *****

Chapter 36 - Even More Techniques ~~~~~~~~~

Convince the client you are qualified If a client comes to you, and they are prevented from entering hypnosis by a suggestion saying that only a licensed trained medical professional can hypnotise you, then a possible way of addressing this is to convince the client that you are equivalently qualified in the practice of hypnosis as that of a licensed professional. Do not pass yourself off as a licensed professional if you are not one. Not only is this unethical, but in most parts of the world, illegal. If you think that only a licensed professional can get past the seal, then instead, adopt another technique. On the other hand, if you occasionally work with a licensed professional (maybe through referrals, etc), then see if they will assist you. Explain to the client that you are giving the appropriate instructions to the licensed professional who, in turn, is giving the instructions to the client. When the seal is broken, suggestions are given for you (the hypnotist) to take over the hypnosis session. This is another tool at your disposal, but it is not a technique that you should ever need to use with real-life clients. ~~~~~~~~~

Regression I have briefly mentioned regression elsewhere. In summary, you can use a regression technique such as: - Regress to a time before the seal was put in place. Give instructions so that the seal is rendered ineffective. Then, future-pace to confirm that the seal has been removed Essentially, this is all I am going to say about the general use of regression. This is because a hypnotist using regression needs to be educated and trained in hypnotic regression techniques, and also trained in how to deal with potential abreactions and so forth. In terms of seal breaking, then there is the main thing to say about regression is that the hypnotist should get the client to ‘return to the cause’ so that the hypnotist can then address the seal. This process of regressing a client is taught is most good hypnosis schools. The only thing that is specific to dealing with a seal is that there may be a number of hurdles along the way, such as the Entry, Communication and other Seals, along with the possibility of triggers with unwanted post-hypnotic behaviours. Any hypnotist trained and well versed in hypnotic regression can easily adopt the general seal breaking techniques so that they are suitable for use with a hypnotic regression. ~~~~~~~~~

EIR - Emotionally Induced Regression

I will say no more about this technique other than mention it (again) and say that it is a very powerful technique. However, you should get the appropriate training from a (better than) good hypnosis instructor before you consider using this technique. In terms of a seal, this technique can be likened to using a massive sledgehammer to break a small hazelnut. This technique should never ever be needed when addressing a seal; however, it is another tool in your hypnotist’s tool kit. ~~~~~~~~~

Repetition The repetition of suggestions for installing a seal can reinforce and help make the seal stronger and more permanent. Think of this along the same line as the techniques used for the ‘law-ofcompounding of suggestions’ and ‘suggestion repetition’ that are often used in everyday ordinary hypnosis sessions. While the use of repetition can reinforce that seal’s suggestions, you have to remember that you cannot seal every single entry point into the mind. For example, a naïve seal installer may compound the hell out of a suggestion in order to try to make a seal ‘stronger’ (whatever that means). This is great - that is if the seal breaker knows only one seal breaking technique. In the Dave Elman recordings [11], Dave Elman emphasises the concept of the ‘many ways into the mind’ ideas. However, to the well-informed hypnotist, armed with a suitable set of seal breaking tools and techniques, all the compounding used to install a seal, is futile. In reality, when using repetition, aka compounding, the seal installer is really just wasting their time and effort and barking at the wind. They may reinforce the suggestions for that specific seal, but that seal is going to be broken through another route anyhow. The mind cannot be totally sealed using hypnosis; it is just not possible. Repetition and reinforcement of suggestion are also good tools to aid in the breaking of seals. Use repetition and compounding with your suggestions when getting past the seal and when explicitly removing the seal. For some clients, it can be important for the client to “know” that their seal has been removed. Repetition can help reinforce this “knowing”. ~~~~~~~~~

Instant / Shock induction Instant inductions are also a good way of bypassing certain types of seal. You should know that there are points of failure in using an instant induction to break a seal. For example, if a client has been given a suggestion such as “Any attempt to hypnotise you will fail, and you will instantly and immediately go out of hypnosis and back to your everyday waking state” If the client already knows about instant induction techniques, or else they put two-and-two together and realise that they are entering hypnosis, then the instant induction may not work as well as you

expect it to. Another point of failure is that after the instant induction, you may need to use deepeners to keep the client in hypnosis and then to get the client to a point where you are able to work with them. When giving the deepening suggestions, you may hit some trigger words or phrases which may also activate the seal or cause unwanted behaviours to be triggered, for example, trigger words and phrases such as “deeper and deeper”, “allow yourself to relax”, etc. many have been used. If this happens, then you can either turn to a different seal breaking technique. Or else turn into a top class detective, deduce what the trigger words or phrases are, and then avoid using these phrases within in the deepener. *****

Part 6 - Additional Information and Final Thoughts ~~~~~~~~~ Controversies, final thoughts and other additional information. *****

Chapter 37 - Controversies ~~~~~~~~~ Here we briefly veer away from the more ‘real’ aspects of the hypnotic seal and touch upon some other areas that are loosely related to seals. We only make a mention of these areas as a matter of interest. This list is by no means complete. While some of the following techniques, processes, and expected-outcomes are rather titillating to the mind, most of the ideas and techniques remain in the domain of conspiracy theorists. ~~~~~~~~~

The tale of the Arrogant Stage Hypnotist This story is anecdotal, told to me, many years ago during one of my hypnosis training classes. A hypnotherapist, who was also a part-time stage-hypnotist, for some reason or another felt slighted by a stage hypnotist of the time, who happened to be an arrogant so and so, both on and off the stage. The hypnotherapist decided to seek some gentle retribution in the following way. The hypnotherapist asked a friend if they would volunteer to have an Exit Seal temporarily installed, so that they could go to the stage hypnotist’s show, where the friend would volunteer to be a participant in the stage show. With the seal duly installed, the hypnotist and friend went to see the show. The hypnotist and friend sat in different parts of the auditorium so as not to raise any potential suspicion. When the stage hypnotist asked for volunteers for the show, the friend duly volunteered, and through luck, and knowledge of the suggestibility tests, was chosen to go on stage. The friend underwent hypnosis and took part in the main performance. At the close of the show, when the stage hypnotist tried to emerge the friend, the friend did not emerge. Each attempt at emerging the friend caused the friend to go, seemingly, even deeper into hypnosis to the point where they were slumping down and sliding off their chair. The stage hypnotist, who (seemingly) did not know about hypnotic seals, tried harder to emerge the friend, and was failing more and more in a very public and humiliating way. As the story goes, the stage hypnotist caught sight of the hypnotherapist who was now standing up in the audience. In a certain degree of desperation, the stage hypnotist then reportedly climbed down from the stage to go and speak to the hypnotherapist. The hypnotherapist was asked for assistance, and went onto the stage to assist the stage hypnotist. The hypnotherapist walked over to the volunteer (their friend), whispered a few words in their ear, and the volunteer quickly emerged, leaving the stage hypnotist somewhat embarrassed. The result, or so I was told, is that the stage hypnotist expressed their appreciation of the help, and became a much humbler person both on and off the stage. Another similar story, but with far fewer embellishments, is said to have been recounted by Dave Elman. Indeed, this may indeed be the same story as that originally recounted by Dave Elman,

except that the story has become much distorted and embellished by the many repeated re-telling over time. ~~~~~~~~~

Hypnotic Couriers and Secret-message passing The psychologist G. H. Estabrooks [15] seemingly researched and attempted to use methods to ‘implant’ hidden messages into military couriers. He is also said to have used hypnotic seals to lock these messages in place and prevent unauthorised people from accessing the messages. Couriers were trained and conditioned to use auto-suggestion techniques to bury away and hide the messages. Through hypnotic amnesia techniques given by a third party, another idea was that sometimes even the couriers were made to be unaware of the message contents. Another idea was that sometimes the courier was made unaware that they were even a courier. Records suggest that after many experiments, G. H. Estabrooks was not particularly successful at the intended outcomes. He later abandoned this particular line of research. Other people are said to have investigated and tried Estabrooks’ techniques with varying degrees of success. Many other stories also allude to differing degrees of success with experiments conducted by other psychiatrists. However, the truth is uncertain. You have to consider that most, if not all, of the research had been funded through government and military sources. It is not surprising that there is not definitive proof of success or failure. This lack of proof either way is in itself an advantage for governments. If the experiments succeeded, then they would not want others to know that they have this capability. If the experiments failed, then the same argument prevails. Politically, alluding that the research was successful could cause other foreign governments to direct funding and research resources into their own dead-end and costly research projects. Attempting to misdirect and steer non-friendly governments to waste their resources, time, funding, and research capabilities has always been a powerful political tool. ~~~~~~~~~

Splitting a person into multiple personalities Another technique claimed to have been investigated (Estabrooks, and also the Central Intelligence Agency - CIA) was to split a person into multiple personalities. The idea was that one of the nondominant personalities was given a message, and then hypnotically sealed against hypnosis and memory recollection. Techniques were then used on the ‘dominant’ personality for producing amnesia, so that they would be unaware of any other personalities or messages. The result was that the dominant personality would be sealed against future hypnosis and memory recollection, and the non-dominant personality would be hidden away (also with its own amnesia and a hypnotic seal). I hasten to add, hypnosis was only part of the techniques said to have been used. Other alleged techniques are said to have included, but not limited to, the use of sensory deprivation, electroshock and psychotic or mind-altering drugs.

Many of these experiments are said to have been conducted on non-volunteers. ~~~~~~~~~

CIA / MK Ultra - Assassin protocol This is an alleged technique that attempted to combine hypnotic amnesia, trigger words and posthypnotic suggestions to ‘fire-off’ pre-programmed actions, in this case an assassination. One of the techniques, in essence, was to use two or more triggers in an attempt to create the ideal hypnotic assassin. One trigger was used to instigate amnesia. The other trigger was used to put the victim into what was termed as “marksman-mode.” The people who performed the hypnosis and set up the behavioural conditioning, the government psychiatrists, would usually be different from the people giving the final behaviour ‘trigger’ and target instructions. This was so that knowledge of the target was unavailable to anyone except those who issued the final instructions and the assassination target to the victim. The Derren Brown television program in 2011, “The Experiments - Assassin” loosely followed this protocol and demonstrated how this set of psychological conditioning techniques could, allegedly, be implemented. See also: The Search for the Manchurian Candidate [13] Operation Mind Control [14] Behind all this was the use of the hypnotic seal, which was used to prevent the re-hypnotising of the hypnotee. The claim was that a seal was used to restrict or block the memory and recall of the assassination and to prevent recall for the conditioning process. ~~~~~~~~~

Derren Brown - “Assassin” - Television Program Derren Brown is a UK magician, mentalist, a psychological mentalist, and performer. In the TV program “Assassin”, which was first televised in the UK in 2011, Derren Brown sets out a process, claiming that it could be used to create a supposed perfect assassin. The television program takes the audience, step by-step through the process, leading to the supposed creation of a perfect assassin. Using a real person as an experimental subject, Derren Brown sets up the volunteer to respond to a ‘trigger’ (for a post-hypnotic state) where the volunteer goes into a ‘marksman mode’. ‘Marksman Mode’ was explained as being a frame of mind where the subject becomes a high-accuracy riflemarksman. Then the volunteer was set up to respond to another trigger, with a scenario whereby they used the marksman mode skills to shoot an intended target. After the volunteer (assassin) had been suitably conditioned over many weeks, the volunteer was then taken to a public theatre and given, in turn, the two post-hypnotic triggers; one trigger for

enabling ‘marksman-mode’ and the other trigger for the shooting of a named target. The television program goes on to show the hypnotised subject take a gun, and then shoot at an on-stage celebrity (the named target); in this case, it was the UK satirical comedian, Stephen Fry. In the television program, Derren Brown claims to follow, loosely, the so-called Assassin Protocol. Please bear in mind that Derren Brown is primarily a performer who loves to lead the audience down a solution trail, but in reality uses techniques that are very different. He is after all a magician and self-confessed showman. Again, part of the process for setting up the perfect assassin was to use a hypnotic seal to prevent anyone hypnotising the subject. You have to bear in mind that the volunteer was not a random member of the public. All of the Derren Brown volunteers have applied in advance to be a part of Derren Brown’s shows, either as an audience guest or as a volunteer for Derren Brown’s demonstrations. These applicants go through a selection process to ascertain their suitability for the demonstration. So what you see in a typical Darren Brown show is not necessarily a random volunteer per se. As a side-note, in the original “Assassin Protocol” experiments, hypnosis was only one small part of the experimental techniques being considered to produce a manufactured “assassin”. ~~~~~~~~~

Carla Emery - “Secret, Don’t Tell” Carla Emery’s book, “Secret, Don’t Tell” [8] is an interesting mishmash of fact, fiction, sensationalism and conspiracy theory. Carla Emery’s book covers areas such as remote assassins, use of brainwashing, and the deliberate forcing and creation of multiple personalities where one of the personalities might be used to act out covert instructions or carry secret information, while another personality may be the standard everyday ‘normal’ person. The book also outlines how hypnotic techniques could be used to condition a response to a trigger that would then cause a post-hypnotic suggestion to be carried out. The main area of interest for the reader is that Carla Emery’s book describes a number of techniques that refer to the use of the hypnotic seal. ~~~~~~~~~

Sirhan Sirhan & The Assassination Of Robert Kennedy Dr Herbert Spiegel, 1914-2009, [19], was a New York psychiatrist who, for a number of years, was the Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University. Dr Herbert Spiegel is said by some to have been widely regarded as one of the leading experts in therapeutic hypnosis. Dr Spiegel studied and researched in areas such as; hypnosis in combat, hypnosis versus personality types, hypnotic versus non-hypnotic phenomena, the use of hypnosis for collecting legal evidence. These are only a few of the research areas that Dr Spiegel was involved in. Dr Spiegel is said to have reached the conclusion that Sirhan Sirhan (Senator Robert Kennedy’s assassin) was almost certainly acting-out and following hypnotic instructions at the time when Sirhan shot Senator Kennedy.

As part of his investigation, Dr Spiegel put Sirhan Sirhan into a hypnotic trance. While Sirhan Sirhan was in a hypnotic trance, Dr Spiegel discovered that most of Sirhan Sirhan’s memories, from the time before and during the assassination, were ‘sealed’. However, there were a few memories that were still accessible. One memory was the presence of a girl who spoke with Sirhan Sirhan just before the assassination. Some people claim that this girl may have provided the triggers that hypnotically switched Sirhan Sirhan into the ‘Marksman Mode’ explained earlier in this book. Eyewitness accounts back up Sirhan Sirhan memories. The eyewitnesses confirm the presence of a girl answering to the same description as that provided by Sirhan Sirhan. However, this girl has never been found or identified. The inclusion of this story is to show that there are alleged real-life incidents where amnesia, hypnotic seals, and other post-hypnotic suggestions are said to have been used to produce the perfect assassin. *****

Chapter 38 - Final Thoughts ~~~~~~~~~

Additional Information While some hypnosis protocols, for example, smoking-cessation, can be found around every corner, information on the hypnotic seal is quite sparse and difficult to find. Here are some additional sources of information, regarding seals, and other techniques discussed in this book: - Gerald Kein, Omni Hypnosis Training Center. Basic / Advanced Live Training Course [1] - Gerald Kein, Omni Hypnosis Training Center. Downloadable Video - Basic / Advanced Training Course [2] - Gerald Kein Podcast - Breaking The Hypnotic Seal Podcast [3] - Breaking Hypnotic Seals DVD set, W. Duby [4] - Breaking The Hypnotic Seal - a mini-course, J. Ramey [5] - “Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis”, W. S. Kroger [6] - “Das Hypnotische Verbrechen und seine Entdeckung”, Karl du Prel [7] - “Secret, Don’t Tell”, C. Emery [8] - “Hypnosis Induction Technics” by M. Teitelbaum [9] - “Hypnotherapy” by Dave Elman [10] - Complete Medical Hypnosis Course - Audio Recordings by Dave Elman [11] If there are any additional resources that you want to see included in this book, please contact the author so that the information can be considered for inclusion in future revisions of this book. *****

Conclusions and summary Entry Seal An Instant Induction is a very good way to address the Entry Seal. However, this is not infallible. The Entry Seal’s suggestions will come into effect as soon as the recipient realises that they are being hypnotised and / or realise that they are being given hypnotic suggestions with this aim. In this case, and alternative method such as the one of the indirection methods can be used. Exit Seal If an Exit Seal is being triggered, then you should consider an indirection technique. Alternatively, stop the emerging, regress to before the seal was installed and remove it. Be aware that a dastardly

seal-installer may have added suggestion to trigger an abreaction or abreaction like behaviour for seal-breaking techniques using regression. Communication Seal, Ignore Suggestions or Invisible Hypnotist Seals The five plus or minus two indirection technique is effective here. Alternatively, you can use a rapid regression to the seal installation and remove it there. Remember that the Communication Seal, Ignore Suggestions Seal or Invisible Hypnotist Seal can occur at any point in the hypnosis process, that is, induction, intervention suggestions or emerging. You will need to adapt your technique accordingly. Regression If you opt to use regression, then you should consider using a very rapid regression technique. For example, the Dave Elman regression technique, or possible the Emotionally Induced Regression or EIR (when using the EIR, recall my earlier comments about using a sledgehammer to break a nut). I have found that the slower regression techniques, such as slowly going back over the client’s mental timeline, or one of the bridge regressions just don’t get the client back quickly enough to where you want them to be. You want to work quickly and effectively. This will reduce the possibility of any post-hypnotic suggestion kicking-in. If the client is regressed quickly enough, then they are revivifying their experience “before” the seal was put in place, and also before any unwanted behaviours have been conditioned.

Becoming a seal breaking expert Practical seal breaking cannot be learned from a book. While you can probably break the most common and simple seals with knowledge gained from a book, you have to consider the client. It should not be about the hypnotist’s ego. It should all be about the client. Consider what may happen if you attempt to break a seal and fail. Where does that leave the client? What do you do next? Imagine that the client has been given a suggestion so that each and every time someone attempts to hypnotise them, then it becomes more and more difficult for them to enter hypnosis. Recall the law of compounding will be at work here. To become a good seal breaker, you need to practice on real volunteers, but only with an excellent instructor or suitably trained hypnotist at your side guiding you through the process(es). This is where the better hypnosis schools come into their own. If your training does not / did not include seal breaking, then get yourself on a specialist course. If you are solely working in the therapeutic / intervention side of hypnosis, then the seal you will most likely encounter is the Entry Seal. While the majority of seals that you encounter will be the basic Entry Seal, you should learn other techniques as well. In the real world, you are almost certainly never going to encounter a seal at all. However, if you are working in the area of hypnosis that is being used in the alternative-lifestyle communities, then you need to be practised in all the seal-types. You also need to be skilled and be prepared to deal with the unwanted behaviours that are more and more commonly being used by the unethical fringe hypnotists. The majority of people in the

alternative lifestyle community using hypnosis do so ethically. However, there are a minority of people who are using unethical techniques. I do not consider these people to be hypnotists per se. Rather, they are people who have learned to hypnotise and are using hypnosis and associated techniques is an unethical way. Hypnosis is just the tool; the ethical nature is down to the individual person. With this in mind, if you are considering breaking a seal that has been placed by an unethical person, you should be aware of the techniques that can be used and how, as a seal-breaking hypnotist, you will approach it. *****

Chapter 39 - Bibliography ~~~~~~~~~ [1] Gerald Kein, Omni Hypnosis Training Center, DeLand Florida. Basic / Advanced Live Training Course. Teaches and demonstrates how to break the hypnotic seal as part of the course. Jerry still runs these courses in Florida USA. There are other authorised Omni Hypnosis Training Centers around the world. [2] Gerald Kein, Omni Hypnosis Training Center. Downloadable Video - Basic / Advanced Training Course. Teaches and demonstrates how to break the hypnotic seal as part of the Hypnosis Course. This is available for download from the Omni Hypnosis website. [3] Gerald Kein Podcast - Breaking The Hypnotic Seal, a 17 minute mp3 Podcast. Current availability: unknown. [4] Rev. William Duby - Breaking Hypnotic Seals, 2 DVD set. Available from William Duby’s website [5] James Ramey - Ultradepth (TM) - once published a mini course on “Breaking The Hypnotic Seal”. Current availability: unknown. [6] Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis - In Medicine, Dentistry, and Psychology, Author: William S Kroger, Introduction by Michael Yapko, First Published 1963. Revised 2nd edition 2008, ISBN 07817-7802-2, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins & Wolters Kluwer. This is available from bookshops. [7] “Das Hypnotische Verbrechen und seine Entdeckung” (“The Hypnotic crime and its discovery”) by Karl du Prel, published in 1889 At the time of writing this e-book, a digitised version of the original book, in German, was available on-line from the Freiburg University Library. Please note: Depending on your geographic location, you may need an account from the University of Freiburg, or an affiliated library, to access the Freiburg University Library on-line library records. The library index shows that there are French and English physical translations of the book available through the library - the general availability of these translations is unknown. [8] “Secret, Don’t Tell” by Carla Emery, Acorn Hill Pub (Jun 1998). Paper version seems to be out of print, and may be available through used-book sellers. A CD of this material was also published; the current availability of this CD is unknown. [9] “Hypnosis Induction Technics” by Myron, M.D. Teitelbaum, published by Charles C Thomas, Springfield Illinois; first printed 1965. Reprints of the 1980 edition are available from most bookshops. This book has several pages of instruction dedicated to the creation and breaking of hypnotic seals. [10] Hypnotherapy by Dave Elman. Dave Elman was a pioneer of many hypnosis techniques. He wrote and published the book “Hypnotherapy” (it also had other published titles during the early years). The book is a condensed version of the Complete Medical Hypnosis Course that was taught by Dave Elman. Dave Elman only taught his course to licenced medical professionals. [11] Complete Medical Hypnosis Course by Dave Elman. This was a live training course given only to licensed medical professionals. While the course was a live training course, Dave Elman also published his own audio recordings on vinyl, which were to be made available to licenced medical professionals only. Much of Dave Elman’s live course was recorded onto reel-to-reel tapes. Many of

these Dave Elman’s recordings are still available for purchase from bookshops and online. You can also get the Hypnoanalysis series; this is now available on CD rather than vinyl records on which the recordings were originally recorded. The largest set of reel-to-reel recordings from the live “Complete Medical Hypnosis Course” is, as far as I am aware, not currently available. Dave Elman’s book [10] is said to be a condensed form of much of the material he taught in his course. [12] G. H. Estabrooks PhD - Hypnosis Comes Of Age - Science Digest, April 1971, pages 44 - 50. [13] The Search for the Manchurian Candidate - John Marks 1979 ISBN 0-8129-0773-6 [14] Operation Mind Control - Walter Bowart 1978 [15] Hypnosis by G.A. Estabrooks 1943 [16] PubMed. Publicly accessible on-line medical database, maintained by the United States National Library of Medicine; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ [17] Hidden Depths: The Story of Hypnosis by Robin Waterfield. This book approaches hypnosis with an open mind. The author states that he attempts to differentiate between the myths and the facts. The book is rich in hypnosis history in as well and has; an outline of techniques, potted insights into individual hypnotists and it documents the history of techniques used today and through the ages. [18] Ericksonian Approaches by Rubin Battino, Thomas L. South. ISBN-10: 1845900294, ISBN13: 978-1904424918. Page 108. The handshake induction is used to produce a cataleptic response through tactile confusion. When releasing from a normal everyday handshake, then through a series of subtle touches and movements, it is possible to induce catalepsy in the other person’s hand and lower arm. This then results in the person’s hand remaining suspended in front of them without them noticing. The book describes the technique in some detail. [19] Dr Herbert Spiegel, Psychiatrist and Hypnosis Researcher, 1919-2009. For further information about Dr Herbert Spiegel, visit the website: http://www.drherbertspiegel.com [20] George A. Miller. “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on our Capacity for Processing Information” by George A. Miller (1956), Harvard University. First published in the Psychological Review, 1956, Volume #63, pages 81-97. This paper was first read (as an Invited Address) before the Eastern Psychological Association in Philadelphia on April 15, 1955. Since that time, a number of other researchers have investigated the ideas of cognitive capacity for both the subconscious and conscious mental processes. For example, another researcher concludes that the number “4” is significant: N. Cowan, “The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity”, published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24 (2001), pages 87–185 However, in this book (The Hypnotic Seal) I make the cognitive capacity assertion to be five plus or minus two. I use this idea of five plus or minus two because these are the numbers most often used as the public perception of the limits for the number of things that a human mind can be consciously processing at any given time. While the five plus or minus two idea is a popular, the reality is much more complex and depends upon a range of factors (human and other) that can significantly affect these limits. This idea of the limit of conscious cognitive capacity could fill many volumes of books in its own right, and this is an exciting on-going subject of psychological research.

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Chapter 40 - Author Biography ~~~~~~~~~ The author spent the early part of his professional career designing and writing computer programs, designing computer hardware and designing electronics systems. The author is a Chartered Engineer; a Computer Science - Bachelor of Science Graduate of the University Of Essex, and holds many qualifications in Electronics Engineering Design. The author discovered hypnosis early on in life and has studied it ever since. The author’s science and engineering background has allowed him to approach hypnosis with a scientific mind, and after many years of training and study, has adopted, adapted, refined, and developed hypnosis methods that are safe and effective. *****

Chapter 41 - Errata ~~~~~~~~~ Any errors or omissions found since this book was published can be found on the website: www.hypnoticseal.com. *****

Chapter - Index ~~~~~~~~~ A contents index is only available in the paper edition of this book. *****