Deep trance identification

Deep Trance Identification (DTI) is a process of inductive modeling wherein the modeler utilizes hypnotic trance as the primary learning process. In hypnosis the modeler will associate into the model and experience the world through the perspective of the model including the model's states, thoughts, beliefs, and values.

History of Deep Trance Identification

Early History

While DTI in a broad sense has been a part of cultural and religious traditions for millennium, it is relatively new as a hypnotic process. The earliest example comes from Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson's study and filming of the "Trance and Dance in Bali"^[1] in the 1930s. These culturally and religiously vital performances told the story of the defeat of an evil witch by human transformed into a dragon. During the performances dancers would fully become the characters in the drama and exhibit unusual behaviors such as stabbing themselves with small knives (without harming themselves) and dramatic changes in physiology including catalepsy and convulsions. Mead and Bateson presented these videos to Milton Erickson who provided crucial insight into the process of hypnosis occurring in the performances. The video of the Balinese Trance Dance was released in 1952.^[2]

Deep Trance Identification As A formalized Process

Vladimir Raikov

In the 1960s Dr. Vladimir Raikov began conducting hypnotic experiments designed to improve the musical abilities of students at the Moscow Conservatory.^[3] His experiments consisted of 3 groups, a control group-students who were not hypnotized, students who were hypnotized and received positive suggestions, and students who were hypnotized and were taught to "be in the skin of" some of the great musicians throughout history.

Students who were in the third group scored significantly higher on their exams in both technical proficiency and artistic interpretation.

Raikov's technique involved inducing a deep trance where students were regressed to an early age. From there they would associate into the model and grow up mastering the musical instrument as the master musician.^[4]

Stephen Gilligan

In the 1970s DTI as a hypnotic process reaches the shores of the US and Stephen Gilligan decided to DTI with Milton Erickson with whom he was studying. This experience left a last impact on Gilligan who is now a master Ericksonian Hypnotist.

In an interview with Chris and Jules Collingwood, Gilligan describes DTI as:

"You let go of your normal identity, the way you think, the way you hold your body, the way you talk, the way you react. Your whole sense of self drops to a much deeper level, so that everything else becomes malleable."^[5]

Gilligan reported a number of unusual experiences as a result of his modeling of Erickson. One of the stories he tells is of a time when he was "being Erickson" having a conversation with Bateson. During that conversation Gilligan shared something with Bateson shocked him because it was something that only Erickson knew about Bateson.^[6]

John Overdurf

In the 1990s DTI took on a new form when John Overdurf introduced it as a part of his PhotoReading workshops. Students would associate into the authors of the books they were reading as a means of formatting the unconscious mind for the PhotoReading skill set.

Shawn Carson and Jess Marion

In 2012 Jess Marion and Shawn Carson teamed up to explore DTI as both a modality for skills generation as well as therapeutic change. They experimented with DTI with students clients and themselves and as result developed a complete protocol, including the "DTI Events Matrix"^[7] hypnotists can use for themselves and their clients that is safe and effective.

In 2014 with John Overdurf, Carson and Marion wrote and published the only full book on DTI available, Deep Trance Identification: Unconscious Modeling and Mastery for Hypnosis Practitioners, Coaches, and Everyday People. This includes the protocol as well as various approaches to DTI such as DTI and Symbolic Modeling, DTI as a 6 Step Reframe, and the Future Self DTI.

The Neuroscience of DTI

While there have been no formal research done on the DTI'ing brain there are some important neural structures and processes that may give insight into the effectiveness of DTI as a hypnotic learning process. The first is the function of mirror neurons. These neurons take in eternal information and create a similar neural experience. For if two friends were chatting over coffee and one friend picks up the cup, the parts of associated with picking up a cup in the other friend's premotor cortex. Similarly with DTI the modeler will have a number of reference experiences with that model that will allow for the activation of mirror neurons.^[8]

The "Wholeistic" Brain

During the DTI modeling process the modeler will be have a number of reference experiences with the model either in person or through recordings and books. This conscious exposure creates declarative memories of having read, seen, or spoken with the model, as well as the events in the models life and what they report their thoughts and emotions to be. DTI allows the modeler to step into those biographical moments and think and feel as the model did. This will light up more neural networks than simply learning about a person. For example, if the model was confident in a particular instance than the modeler's networks associated with confidence will also become active. When Gilligan modeled Erickson he reported that the experience that had one of the most profound impacts on him was the "stillness" in Erickson's mind. During that experience Gilligan had access to neural networks in his own brain that up until that point had been inactive within the context of hypnosis.^[9]

Early Learning Strategies

Children learn primary social and intellectual skills through "pretending" to be someone else, a superhero, a doctor, a teacher, etc. Adults see it as just playing but children use this type of play to learn social values, math skills, leadership, etc. depending on the type of game they are playing. This process of learning through stepping into someone else's shoes is the most prevalent form of DTI in humans. As adults we forget how to do this naturally. Hypnotic DTI allows us to access those deeply embedded learning strategies.

DTI Outside of Hypnosis

DTI appears throughout history in different cultures. Some examples include:

• Balinese Trance Dances,
• Thaipusam^[10]
• Method Acting^[11]
• Meditations of St. Ignatius^[12]
• Dionysian Mysteries^[13]
• Some Tantric meditations^[14]

References

• Carson, Shawn, Marion, Jess; Overdurf, John (2014) "Deep Trance Identification: Unconscious Modeling and Mastery for Hypnosis Practitioners, Coaches, and Everyday People". Changing Mind Publishing.

ISBN 978-1940254098

• Gilligan, Stephen (interview) http://stephengilligan.com/interviews/
• Mead, Margaret; Bateson, Gregory (1952) "Trance and Dance in Bali"
• Stanislovski, Konstantin (2009) "An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary" Routledge, ISBN 978-0415551205