There is a lot of anxiety in the neurodivergent community. Some of it just comes from how our nervous systems are wired differently. But a lot of it comes from lived experience - unfortunately, often especially with the “helping” professions. Practitioners of all these professions are trying to learn and create much better “best practices” for working with these clients. And I truly believe hypnotists can help lead the way on this. I’m convinced that hypnosis is possibly the best modality existing for helping the ND population: trance work doesn’t just sidestep the parts of talk therapy that require verbal processing (under stress, no less), it also actively creates the regulation we’re desperately in need of, just by nature of entering the state itself!
I’ll address the “why’s” of the needs for safety that neurodivergent clients have in a different post (both because it is complex and because it’ll probably get a little personal). For now, let’s focus on how to achieve those feelings during a hypnosis session.
To stick within my vehicular metaphor, I’ll divide these into “active” and “passive” safety features within a session. “Active” will be things we are going to do or say, while “Passive” will be things we elect not to do or say. A Reminder: We are not a monolith. These adjustments seem to work best for the majority, but there will always be those that respond differently.
Some Passive Safety Features:
No surprises. Many hypnosis schools utilize surprise techniques which work well with neurotypical minds to create sudden realizations and breakthroughs. The neurodivergent client’s mind parses surprises as breaches of trust, and they have better experiences when they know exactly what you are going to do.
Try not to create expectations of what the client should “see”. A neurodivergent client may see things, or sense things, or feel things in many different ways and should have the freedom to allow their minds to work in whatever manner they are comfortable with. The neurodivergent mind also tracks descriptions and metaphors closely, so being too descriptive can backfire if that metaphor skips something or if the client has already pictured one thing and now thinks they pictured incorrectly and must change. So don’t overexplain - just allow as many possibilities of experience as you can for the mind’s individual imagery.
Omit directional cues. Some neurodivergent people feel physical direction intensely and can even have an aversion to metaphors that lead “down” . Allow the client to decide their own direction, which may be up, down, sideways, or forward.
Avoid statements telling the client how they feel. This also applies to clients suffering from chronic illnesses or pain. Statements made factually like “you feel better than you’ve felt in a long time” create questioning: “Do I really?” “By how much?” Suggestions for physical feelings and most emotions would use qualifiers like “may” and “might”, with no superlatives.
Some Active Safety Features:
This group very specifically needs to be reassured that they are in control: in any recorded pre-talk, right before the meat of the session, and a couple of times during the session itself. Most people have incorrect impressions about hypnosis from movies, TV and stage shows and need fears about control, or getting “stuck” in trance (thanks Office Space), or being made to embarrass themselves relieved. But this groups needs them even more - we have had years of having people decide that we are not “right” somehow and that we needed to be changed into someone else. Loss of control translates to loss of ourselves, in a way that feels very real. So reassurance about retaining control is one of the biggest factors for a successful session.
Don’t assume being “in the chair” implies full consent - ask for it at different stages. Most of us will respond much more strongly to suggestions worded as requests, as opposed to demands. Instead of “when I say so” “when I tell you to”, word these as “perhaps you would like to” and “in a moment, I will ask you to please…”. This wording avoids a knee-jerk reaction in the mind that immediately slams on the brakes, and instead tells your client that you are working on this together - co-creating what they want to achieve. I use this “co-creation” a lot, reminding them that they “created” the relaxation in their eyes, so they can “create” the other thing.
“It’s just us and I’m watching out for you.” I tossed this phrase in in one group session and it got amazing feedback. I’ve been told it makes a huge difference in feelings of safety, security, and the ability to relax.
Making the decision to try hypnosis for the first time can feel scary, especially for a group that is very concerned with losing control. Outfitting one’s sessions with verbal safety features, and removing some phrases that could put a bump in the road, can go a long way toward creating a smooth hypnotic journey for a neurodivergent mind.