It is difficult for me to find scientific descriptions of “bottom up” vs “top down” processing that do not use “deficit language” - and I’m not gonna use deficit language. (I feel most of what is going on here, and in my personal life, is about “difference” - the deficit comes in when most of the world has been built around only one of several processing styles and the other processing styles have to navigate it, IMHO.)
In any case, I have to try to explain the difference and how this affects the way we use hypnotic language and journeys with neurodivergent clients. (I want to clarify that I am speaking of autism, ADHD and AuDHD when I speak of neurodivergence - there are plenty of other forms.)
In the most simplistic terms - because this is a spectrum, like virtually everything to do with human beings - a top down processor works easily in generalities. There is a general goal and details fill in as needed until the goal is met. A bottom up processor may have the same goal, but starts with specific details and builds upward from there to achieve the goal.
The metaphor I tend to use is building a shed. A top down thinker has the goal “I want to build a shed” and then works out the steps as needed. A bottom up processor may start with something much more concrete, such as “I need a place to store the mower”. From there, we may explore multiple options, possibly even leading to new tracks: “what kind of structure would be best: metal, wood, plastic? Weigh the benefits of each. Where should it go? If it goes there, should I maybe create a greenhouse/shed combo because I kind of want a greenhouse. What if this mower stops working? I’ve been thinking about a riding mower, and how big a shed would that take? Do I build bigger in case I buy the bigger machine?”
Now I’m coming at this from a personal AuDHD perspective which tends to branch off into other possibilities in the ADHD way (as above), whereas a pure autism perspective might be more inclined to anchor on to specifics and dive deeply into those, like exact measurements, material specifications or environmental suitability. But we are all building from the bottom up.
This one realization informs the biggest overall challenge in creating hypnotic techniques for neurodivergent, bottom up processing brains. In some of the hypnotic literature I’ve seen hypnosis is described therein as a top down process, creating metaphors, suggestions, and possible scenarios that allow the mind to relax as it follows easily along. But with a bottom up processor, the phrases and suggestions meant to relax the mind into trance can actually increase mental activity instead of lessening it - as in the story I told in a previous post about my father’s attempt to hypnotize me, my mind was actively engaging in trying to track and understand the process itself. We also register inconsistencies in metaphor and hitting a metaphorical bump activates the mind even more.
A lot of the adaptations to standard hypnotic language that I’ve made at the advice of my group members, are specifically to reduce this cognitive load: I check my metaphors thoroughly for incongruities that could startle or confuse a mind that tracks those things in detail, I’ve created what I call “parallel imagery” to provide choices for imagery moving into and out of the trance state and limit my descriptions of that imagery, which I will explain in a subsequent post, I explain all processes before the session to limit internal questioning.
As I mentioned in a previous article, I also created the free Trance Practice mp3 so people can get used to the basic language of a short hypnosis induction (this one isn’t specialized for neurodivergent listeners) and what it feels like going into and emerging from their natural trance state. If you’d like to try it, I have several links to the download on my website, including one a little way down this page.
There is a lot more to it than that, and I’ll break down the other changes that I have found to work very well in future articles. But just taking into consideration the difference in processing styles could mean a neurodivergent client having a much smoother session experience.
And I say “Bottoms Up” to that!