After almost an year of hunting for the transcript of one of the most transformational demo session of just plain Hypnotherapy but with the king of inductions Dave Elman we had such a powerful a session that has had a lasting impact on the client and even me as the therapist. My interest in PLRT reviewed after conducting this session.
Remembering from the last time—the day when cancer happened.
If you could feel this feeling in your body, where do you experience it?
Is there a name you can give to this feeling?
Papa: “You have taken my TB.” Guilt.
Important: Keep your forehead relaxed. If it is very difficult, try to breathe in deeply.
Who else is there?
What is happening?
How does it make you feel?
What happened at that time? Blaming myself
Question it if someone is saying something that is not possible.
Slowly take it forward—move ahead.
Have you ever felt this much pain in any other time?
If the answer is negative, remain with the current situation and provide closure.
Try to breathe in through your nose and blow it out through your mouth if it becomes very intense. [Vagal Nerve Activation]
What is the feeling you are having?
This has already happened. You are only trying to recollect it.
Helplessness!
It is okay to get in touch with your feelings.
No more avoiding or touching your feelings. (Possibly: “No more avoiding touching your feelings.”)
Where do you store all your feelings?
“In my mind.”
Root cause.
Three, two, one–Allow your subconscious mind to go there.
“Sabse jyada”—which feeling is the strongest?
Can this feeling take you back to any time with your Papa?
[Affect Bridge]
As I count from ten to one, take this feeling back to the time when this feeling…
Keep breathing deeply. Whatever comes up is just fine. If nothing comes, that is also perfectly all right.
Papa is very happy. So now, whenever you think of Papa, can you remember him always in this form instead of remembering the cancer?
Eventually, implanting this memory.
If you could let go of the grief, how would you feel ?
I would also want you to let go of this pain.
If your Papa could see this, how would he want you to be?
Brave.
I want you to imagine “x” living her life Papa would want her to.
[Inner Child Healing]
Go to all those moments in you life when she felt sad, lonely or neglected.
Oh, this is good.
Is it okay for you to feel this good?
Is anyone stopping you from feeling this good?
Your suffering is like a cage.
Is it okay for you to fly out?
Yes
Nostalgic!! She is such a genuine and kind soul. Always smiling and positive about everything. She was really lucky to have gone through the transformation during the demo session, which just happened so impromptu. I still couldn’t believe the emotional journey she was going through and she completely surrendered. It was my first experience seeing something so unique like that, felt like a dream. She completely transformed after the session. Her face was glowing, she had a subtle peaceful smile and expression. One of the most satisfying moments of the workshop, where you could just witness the change from within. Amazing!! I miss those workshop days! Luckily both participants for the demo sessions were chosen from our table
really Indeed, this is a truly insightful session and, particularly from a PLRT practitioner’s perspective, an important piece of study material.
One of the key aspects worth observing is how the session gradually moves forward from initial emotions such as guilt and helplessness and, through the Affect Bridge, is able to reach the deeper emotional root.
What I particularly appreciated is that the session does not remain confined to the painful memory. Instead, it moves toward emotional release, a positive memory and representation of the father, and ultimately toward the possibility of living beyond grief and suffering. The metaphorical intervention, “Suffering as a cage,” followed by “Is it okay for you to fly out?” is especially powerful.
Several important techniques have been used in this session, including somatic awareness, emotional amplification, Affect Bridge, subconscious access, memory reconsolidation, and Inner Child Healing. This makes the transcript even more valuable for anyone who is seriously studying regression work.
This session also reminds us how important the therapist’s language, pacing, suggestibility, and appropriate closure become when working with intense emotional material.
Overall, from a learning perspective, this is a very valuable session. Many thanks for preserving and sharing it with us.
Venu sir, I really enjoyed reading this case. It felt less like reading a “demo” and more like quietly witnessing a real healing moment.
What impacted me most is the journey from guilt → helplessness → grief → letting go.
Sometimes a client is not actually holding on to the event… they are holding on to the meaning they gave that event years ago.
And the question —
“Is it okay for you to feel this good?”
is soooo very deep. In my experience, this is something I see so often in therapy. People can get so used to carrying pain, responsibility and guilt that when we finally invite them towards happiness, there is almost a hesitation… as if they need permission to put the suffering down.
The way you brought the father back not through the cancer, but through the memory of him being happy. This shift is incredibly powerful. We cannot change what happened, but sometimes we can help a person remember that the painful chapter is not the whole relationship.
And yes, learning inductions and techniques is important, but cases like this reminds me that the real magic is often in knowing when to go deeper, when to slow down, when to simply stay with the feeling and when to gently help the client come back to life.
Thank you for sharing this, Venu Sir. As therapists, we keep learning… and sometimes one case teaches us something that stays with us for years.
I felt the same while reading the case. The session did not get stuck in the pain or in the technique, it slowly moved the client from *“*this happened to me” to “I can choose what I carry forward from it.”
Loved your observation about the “suffering as a cage” metaphor. Sometimes we become so familiar with our pain that we almost start believing it is a part of who we are. Helping someone realise that they are allowed to step out of that cage can be such a profound moment in therapy.
Especially the therapist’s language, pacing and closure. After working with clients for years, I feel that sometimes it is not the big intervention that creates the shift, but one simple question asked at exactly the right moment.
This case beautifully speaks that techniques give a framework, but it is the human connection, presence and sensitivity of the therapist that brings the work alive.
Thank you, Satish, for articulating the learning so beautifully. It made me look at the session once again from a slightly deeper perspective.
Thank you so much for sharing this therapy regression session. It is incredibly insightful and has given me a deeper understanding of how to approach a client with such gentleness, compassion, and a truly healing presence.
Your session has been an invaluable learning experience, and I sincerely appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge and expertise. I am deeply grateful for your guidance and generosity.
So glad that my notes could be of help, and thank you @venu sir for putting them together so beautifully. It feels wonderful to see the session preserved and shared with everyone.
