Trauma-Focused Hypnotherapy: Clinical Scripts Reference Guide: Induction, Deepening, and Useful Suggestions in Permissive Hypnotic Language

A working reference for the permissive hypnotic language of trauma-focused clinical practice.The Clinical Scripts Reference Guide contains complete scripts for the three fundamental phases of a hypnotherapy session: induction, deepening, and useful therapeutic suggestion. Every script is written in the TFH permissive language model — invitational, non-directive, and respectful of the client's autonomy throughout.What's inside:- 12 Induction Scripts — from classic eye fixation and breathing inductions to the Elman rapid induction, conversational/naturalistic induction, arm levitation, and trauma-adapted safe-space and grounding inductions- 11 Deepening Scripts — including the descending staircase, fractionation, still-water imagery, body heaviness, color and light, the forest path, number anchoring, and trauma-specific deepeners for PTSD and complex grief work- 14 Useful Suggestion Scripts — safe place installation, the inner resource, releasing and letting go, habit change, confidence building, pain reduction, inner child contact, sleep restoration, the container technique, ego strengthening, urge surfing, the witness position, shadow integration, and pain dialogueTwo appendices document the language tradition:Appendix I — Ericksonian Hypnotic Language — a reference glossary of core terms and techniques: pacing and leading, truisms, yes sets, embedded suggestion, presupposition, implication, therapeutic double binds, utilization, indirect suggestion, therapeutic metaphor, seeding, ideomotor response, confusion technique, therapeutic dissociation, trance ratification, time distortion, age regression and progression, the interspersal technique, post-hypnotic suggestion, reframing, accessing cues, catalepsy, analgesia, amnesia, positive and negative hallucination, the handshake induction, somatic and affect bridges, and waking hypnosis.Appendix II — Non-Ericksonian Hypnotic Language — key terms and concepts organized by theorist: Mesmer (animal magnetism, mesmeric rapport, the mesmeric pass), Braid (hypnosis, monoideism, susceptibility), Bernheim & Liébeault (suggestibility, the Nancy School), Charcot (the Salpêtrière model, catalepsy as diagnostic sign), Janet (psychological automatism, the fixed idea), Coué (autosuggestion, the law of reversed effort), Hull (hypnotic depth scales), Elman (the Elman induction, somnambulism as therapeutic baseline), Hartland (ego strengthening), Hilgard (neodissociation theory, the hidden observer, the Stanford Scale), Barber (task motivational instructions), Spiegel (trance capacity as fixed trait), and Gilligan (generative trance, somatic resonance).A note from the authors:This is a reference, not a script to read from. As the authors write in the opening pages: the moment a clinician picks up a script and reads from it in session, they have already undermined the thing they are trying to do. Hypnosis is a genuine, present, unconscious-to-unconscious meeting between two human beings — what the authors call "bellybutton to bellybutton." The scripts in this guide exist to teach a language. Study them until the rhythm of permissive hypnotic speech becomes your own — then put them down and walk into the room as yourself. That is where the work happens.About the authors:Zac Dodson, MA, CCHt, QS, LMHC became certified in clinical hypnosis in 2005 and developed a trauma-focused hypnosis approach tailored to private practice clinical work. Jesse Lyon, MS, CCHt, QS, LMHC co-founded Trauma-Focused Hypnotherapy and operates Lyon Counseling. A recognized specialist in dream interpretation, nightmares, and parasomnias, he has built a substantial public education platform with over 1.5 million followers on TikTok. Read more