Technical Hypnotherapy Association

In the field if hypnosis it helps to have a system of categorizing our subjects to give us an idea of the best techniques to use with them.

The most usual system is Kappas’s system of Emotion/physical analysis. While this is a great method, it has the disadvantage of requiring a 40 question questionnaire, combined with a scoring method that some people find cumbersome. Any system that requires the client to fill out a form additionally puts distance between client and therapist. It also requires a client to be subjective in some of the questions in the questionnaire.

So, within the basic idea of the Physical/Emotional catagories, we have a much simpler method to assign a value to clients. This consists of four observations. These are:

1. Does the subject wear high contrast colors?
2. Is the subject presenting an open posture?
3. Does the subject wear or carry brand name products?
4. Does the subject maintain eye contact?

Four ‘Yes’ answers is extremely physical. Three is mostly physical, two is evenly physical and emotional, one is mostly emotional, and none is extremely emotional.
Within this classification it’s important not to get confused by the terms physical and emotional. To say someone is ‘Physical’ does not mean they spend any time in the gym! It describes the nature of their personality.

This method is not meant to be definitive. It gives us a quick guide to suggestibility type, and proves correct in about 80% of cases.

[This is a shortened version of an internal document for Vancouver Hypnotherapy therapists].