4 Simple Questions to get you Unstuck in Age Regression

by Celeste Hackett, BCH, A+CPHI, OB

I have heard from many very frustrated hypnotists over the years. Most of the time, the frustration comes from problems with Age Regression. One common issue happens when they have a client follow a feeling back to a childhood scene only to find that scene holds zero negative emotion. I mean, if you can’t find the emotion in the scene a client has taken you to…..That is a problem.

Consider the following client regressed to childhood:

“What’s happening?”

“I’m on the couch.”

“Now what’s happening?”

“I’m still just sitting here.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Nothing.”

“What are you feeling?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you alone or with others?”

“Alone, but mom is in the kitchen.”
“Now what is happening?”

“Nothing. I’m just sitting here.”

Now in a situation like this, where it seems rather futile, I want you to please remember something. Don’t get frustrated and automatically take it at face value. Keep going. Ask more questions! Leave no stone unturned!

Here are some additional questions you can ask:

QUESTION 1-Now what’s happening? You can ask this over and over again because it moves your client forward a bit each time.

QUESTION 2-What are you doing? Generally, when kids are sitting on the couch, or anywhere else for that matter, they are not completely still for long. This can get you a whole lot of stuff that you can ask more questions about for instance, consider the following:

And so, anger gets uncovered when there seemed to be nothing before! So keep asking questions. Don’t necessarily stop unless you think you could be B-ISE. Then check it out with the criteria you learned in class.

QUESTION 3A AND 3B - Did you know, by the way, that your Little One has a perception of Mom’s feelings? They don’t always have a conscious perception of them though. But they are there, so another neat thing you could do is ask her to put her attention on her Mother and then ask “What is SHE feeling?” You will often get “stressed” or “busy” or other feelings at which point you could ask, “and how does that make YOU feel?” If it is the feeling you were following back, then cha-ching you are on your way again, unstuck.

But, what if your client says Mom is fine and they, themselves, feel good, safe, secure etc.? What if you still can’t figure out why the heck they are in this scene? Well, here is an additional question that I really like to ask at times like these and something you could try:

First, “What is Mom (or anyone else who is there) doing?” Here is an example of how this could go:

“Cooking a roast.”

“Put your attention on her. How is SHE feeling today?”

“Good.”

Duh! Nothing here! What can I do with this? How about the following?

“Put your attention in your body, how are you feeling?”

“Good.”

Duh again!

QUESTION 4 - So, you are feeling good?” Get ready. Here it is. Here is my favorite question for the ultimate sticking point in a scenario like this one:

“One hundred percent good?”

My, but it is so interesting to watch clients after asking this question! You will see them become very still and they will seem to go deeper within, checking themselves closer (and they may need to if the feeling was not conscious), then, many times they will say something like, “Well, no, I’m actually not feeling one hundred percent good.”

This is AWESOME news! Assuming you were following a “feeling that you just don’t like” back. Why? Because if they are not 100% feeling good (or safe, secure or whatever) then there is some semblance of a not-so-good feeling there. How do you get them to tell you what it is though? As usual, you just ask them!

“Tell me about the part that doesn’t feel so good, Little One”

“Well, I don’t know. I just feel a little nervous in my stomach.”
Ta da!

“How come?” (Trying to hide the glee in my voice and maybe even my relief here)
Knowing the SLF (Nervous is another name for fear and fear comes from the perception of “something bad might happen”) we could even ask, “What bad thing do you think could happen?

“Mom could get mad”

“That feeling LO, of feeling nervousness in your stomach, is that feeling familiar or new?”

And so, once again, where AR seemed to come to a complete dead stop, you are off and running again! And, you? You are feeling like a SUPERSTAR hypnotist!

Isn’t this stuff fun?