This training is for NLP practitioners and therapists who want to move beyond scripts and set‑piece techniques into genuinely Ericksonian, indirect, unscripted work – the kind of work that adapts moment‑by‑moment to the person in front of you.
Over four weekends, with online support in between, we’ll focus on the pieces that often get left out of standard NLP and hypnotherapy training: subtle trance induction, deepening and management, utilisation of language and physiology, and making Erickson’s approach accessible, understandable and repeatable in real sessions.
Entry requirement: at least NLP Practitioner certification from a reputable training body (NLP Master Practitioner or equivalent therapeutic training is ideal).
Why this training exists
If you’ve trained in NLP or hypnotherapy, you’ve probably met Erickson as a story or a set of language patterns – the Milton Model, a few inductions, maybe a token “Ericksonian day”. What’s often missing is the real, moment‑by‑moment trance management that made his work so effective: observation, utilisation and unscripted work that changes what actually happens in the room.
That gap leaves a lot of good practitioners feeling script‑bound. You know the techniques, but when the client doesn’t fit the protocol – they react strongly, dissociate, go off on tangents, get “stuck” in a loop – it can feel harder to trust your instincts and improvise. This training exists to put back the missing pieces: indirect, permissive trance, observation and utilisation, and Ericksonian frameworks like the 5‑stage paradigm shift, so you can work flexibly instead of forcing clients through set pieces.
Across the four weekends, we’ll slow everything right down and unpack what’s usually glossed over: how to fixate attention and track minimal cues, how to depotentiate unhelpful belief systems, how to invite unconscious search and tasking, and how to let hypnotic responses emerge without having to “push” the client there.
What you’ll learn to do
Over the four weekends you’ll build practical, repeatable skills, including:
Work without a script – using Ericksonian principles and the 5‑stage paradigm shift so you can handle smokers, trauma, performance, habits and “messy” cases without reaching for a generic script.
Run indirect, conversational inductions such as fixation of attention / minimal cues, leisure‑interest and “My friend John”‑style approaches that emerge naturally from what the client is already doing and saying.
Track and utilise minimal cues – breathing, micro‑movements, shifts in skin tone, eye accessing, posture – so you can turn almost anything the client does (including “resistance”) into a vehicle for trance and change.
Use stories, metaphors, binds and double binds in a way that fits your own voice, with real examples of embedded suggestions, yes‑sets, reverse yes‑sets and “cover all bases” binds used respectfully rather than theatrically.
Work with hypnotic phenomena and depth – arm catalepsy, ongoing deepeners, Betty Erickson and self‑hypnosis, unconscious search and tasking – as ways to ratify trance, build confidence and make change stick after sessions.
And that’s only the surface: throughout the training we’ll keep drawing on your actual client cases, so you can see how these tools apply when real people don’t behave like the demo in the manual.
How the training runs
The training runs over four weekends spread across several months, so you have time to absorb the material, experiment with it in real sessions and come back with fresh questions.
Each weekend builds on the last. You’ll see live demonstrations, break things down into clear steps, and have the chance to try methods in a structured, low‑pressure way before taking them back into your own practice.
Between weekends you’ll have access to supporting materials and exercises online to help you keep the skills alive, without needing to disappear into a full‑time course or completely rearrange your client work.
The in‑person weekends take place in or near Blackpool on the Fylde Coast, within easy reach for practitioners travelling from across the North West and further afield.
Who this is for and what you gain
This training is for qualified NLP Practitioners and Master Practitioners, and for experienced therapists or coaches with equivalent training, who already know the models and techniques but want more confidence and flexibility when the client doesn’t fit the script. To get the most from the course you’ll need at least NLP Practitioner certification from a reputable training body; NLP Master Practitioner is ideal.
You’ll leave with a much clearer sense of what you’re doing moment‑by‑moment in trance, and a toolkit of indirect, Ericksonian skills you can rely on when sessions go off‑piste – rather than hoping the next technique will fit.
On successful completion of the four weekends and the between‑module tasks, you’ll receive two certificates: one recognising your practical Ericksonian / indirect hypnosis skills and one for the theoretical components. Combined with an existing NLP Practitioner qualification, the course is designed to support applications for professional hypnotherapy registration, including GHR membership, subject to their current criteria.
Most importantly, the aim is that you feel more at ease in the room: able to observe, utilise and improvise, so your work feels more genuinely Ericksonian, less scripted and more your own.
Next steps for practitioners
If you’d like to know when the next intake opens, or you want to check whether this training is a good fit for your background, you’re welcome to get in touch.
Right now I’m gathering interest from NLP practitioners and therapists who want deeper Ericksonian and indirect skills. There’s no commitment at this stage – it just starts a conversation so I can keep you posted as dates are confirmed.