FACTORS THAT IMPEDE LISTENING AND LEARNING

Have you ever found your mind wandering off when someone is speaking to you? Hearing
and listening are very different things: whilst hearing is passive and requires little effort,
listening is a deliberate choice that demands our attention and focus.

As Hypnotic practitioners, we are looking to capture other people’s attention, but we can
only do this if we’re aware of where our attention goes. An easy way of simulating and
understanding the logistics of hypnotherapy is comparing it to real-life, relatable examples
You can be looking at one thing, but your mind can be somewhere else (such as when you’re
driving or doing a mundane day job and your mind zones out.

The first step in becoming a more effective listener is to become aware of the barriers that
can get in the way. Read through the list below and then take a few moments to reflect on
your own listening skills. Can you recognise any of these blocks to active listening throughout
your own communications?

OBVIOUS EXTERNAL FACTORS

When we’re leading people in and out of hypnotic states, we must be aware of what may be
distracting to our clients and ourselves. If our client becomes distracted, the hypnotherapy
process will be unsuccessful, and if we become distracted, our client will lose trust in us.
Examples of external factors include noises, physical discomfort, interruption, mobile phones,
etc. Sadly, many of us can’t seem to be involved in a conversation today without constantly
glancing at our mobile phone. The message that this sends to the other person is that
we’re bored with the conversation and that whatever we’re looking at on our phone is more
important to us.

RESPONSE REHEARSAL

When we are rehearsing what to say next, we don’t have time to listen to others. Response
rehearsal is when our whole attention is on preparing what we’re about to say next, meaning
we instinctively switch off from listening to the other person.

FACT FINDING

This occurs when you search for the facts and details in what someone is
saying, instead of listening to the overall message they are trying to communicate. Fact
finders are often so focused on what’s ‘not right’ and the imperfections of what someone is
communicating that they actually miss what’s important. Whilst fact-finding can be useful
in other therapeutic processes, driving a client into a cognitive state defeats the purpose of
hypnotherapy. As hypnosis practitioners, we must become masterful in directing people away
from what they don’t want and towards what they do want; which means detouring clients
away from primarily discussing their problems and negative feelings.

BEING JUDGEMENTAL

Judging is when we’ve have stopped listening to what the other person is saying because
we’ve made a prejudgement about the other person, formulated assumptions about them, or
labelled them as some kind of stereotype.
 FACTORS THAT IMPEDE LISTENING AND LEARNING
PROBLEM SOLVING

This is when we begin formulating what kind of advice to give someone after only a few
minutes of listening to them. We’re so keen to jump in and solve the problem that we
sometimes miss what’s most important. When we do this, we may not hear or acknowledge
the other person’s feelings, resulting in us not really being there for them in conversation, and
they feeling just as alone.

IMPOSING COGNITIVE BIAS (PERSONAL VIEW)

We will always have an internalised response or reaction going on inside us on a

subconscious level which can prove distracting. This is when you consider your own viewpoint
to be the only correct one and disregard the views of others. This often takes the form of
focusing on your own opinions or giving advice etc., as opposed to listening to the core
message that the other person is trying to express.