I recently met a woman who expressed interest in learning the practice of self-hypnosis for health, wellness and career performance. She’s smart, articulate and creative – all important attributes to derive meaningful benefits from hypnosis.
Yet, I have reservations about sharing my process
with her. What is source of my concern?
She hails from China and arrived in the United
States for graduate school, staying in-country through a work visa. Her English is fine and allows her to function
in the US without incident.
It’s definitely a second language though. She also readily admits that when listening
to English she thinks in Chinese, translating in her mind as rapidly as
possible
.
Will a hypnotic induction based on guided imagery be
effective? Or would she be unable to
keep pace because of the need to translate?
I’m a member of an online community of hypnotists
called Hypnothoughts which provides
an environment to share best practices.
I posed the question of the effectiveness of a hypnotic induction to a
non-native speaking individual and received some interesting (and unexpected)
responses.
They are included below.
I plan to do more research on this topic with a goal
of adjusting my hypnotic induction technique for this woman. We’ll then give it a shot. Stay tuned for more on this blog.
In India, English is the second language for most, but is also the main exchange language across states. There are 18 or so official local languages -- one in each state.I have used English for a lot of people from other states who spoke different other languages as their first language. English is the only common language for me and them. It works without any problem. Just speak slowly and clearly. If possible get response (i.e. "If you understand it and able to create it nod your head and let me know." ). That is about it.
If she can speak English and attend graduate school there should be no problem at all. Even if you speak in Chinese there will always be a language/image translation going on. So this is not too much of a difference.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here in Western Canada , I get a lot of clients for whom English is their second language , either French Canadians or landed immigrants. In my experience, I have found they actually go deeper and quicker than my English speaking clients!I have not researched it thoroughly, but my early thoughts were that they have to listen more intently, translate my words into workable visuals, and that creates a kind of distraction to the 'monkey' mind or the critical conscious mind as it were.
It could be that this is widely inaccurate, and just down to the monotony of my voice, but I think that providing you simplify the language you use in your guided meditation and guide with the same confidence you would your other clients, your client should have a very successful session.
