Hypnosis Glossary of Terms - I
- Ideomotor Response
- A response emanating from an individual's subconscious mind via the central nervous system. Such a response is a way of avoiding judgments of the conscious mind. Examples: handwriting, index finger raise while in hypnosis.
- Imagery/Hypnodrama
- Imagery is a feeling and experiential state. Unlike visualization, which relies only on the idea of “seeing” something in the mind's eye, imagery uses all five of the senses. Hypnodrama, like Psychodrama, allows a client to act out subconscious conflicts in a safe environment in an attempt to vent and resolve them. However, in Hypnodrama the client does this internally, so there may be less possible embarrassment. Also, since Hypnodrama uses imagery, there is more access to the emotions and the senses than typical Psychodrama. The more senses that are tapped, the better able to re-experience the conflict.
- Incongruent Behavior
- When a person’s sexual behavior is the opposite of his suggestible behavior, or when his outward expression is inconsistent with his actions.
- Induction
- The technique of hypnotizing a person. The patter used can be either maternal or paternal; either one sends message units to the brain, preparing the subject to enter the hypnotic state.
- Inferred Suggestion
- A suggestion given that contains a message other than the immediately obvious one. Usually, the underlying meaning is not immediately understood consciously by the subject, but he will have a delayed reaction to it. It is especially effective with Emotionally suggestible subjects.
- Inhibitory Processes
- The processes that allow a person to deal with himself and with his external environment in a rational and civilized way. When inhibitory processes are disorganized, heterohypnosis results; when they are organized, self-hypnosis takes place.
- Intellectual Suggestibility
- The type of suggestibility in which a subject fears being controlled by the operator and is constantly trying to analyze, reject, or rationalize everything the operator says. With this type of subject, the operator must give logical explanations for every suggestion and must allow the subject to feel that he is doing the hypnotizing himself.