Source: Erickson Institute

This is a transcript of an actual hypnotherapy session. You can try it out as is, as well as learn from it and integrate it into your hypnotic work. It works like the binary code of computers, 1’s and 0’s, just that when we use the 0’s we actually use minus 1. Confusing? Don’t worry, it will become more so (until I explain a little secret).

“You see, because it does make all the difference in the world when you discover, that even when suddenly all kinds of things that you simply could remember simply to remember instead of forget to remember when you wanted to remember to forget what those things were not! It’s easy to understand when you learn the Binary Code of Forgetfulness. Think for a moment of a situation in your past that would be useful for you to forget, maybe an event that left you with a bad stream of feelings and nasty thought patterns. There’s a neurological process that holds the key, I am certain, and we call it the Forget Key. You can use that key when you know that just because, if you’re trying to remember something right now, or even better, if you just stop and you start to think about that specific situation (whichever that is) in which you had that feeling, then, you must know, just before that specific situation started, you didn’t even have that feeling, yet! So how come you could remember to remember that feeling long after the event has dissolved into the past, into that place on your timeline that is almost always hidden? At least, you can hope because otherwise you’d be confused whether it is your past or your future lying there in front of who you are, if you are that person. Now, while all of the above sounds, or being read, very confusing, it is not confusing that much when you consider all these terms, forgetting, remembering and things that are not yet what you need them in order to remember them as you do remember. Confusion, however, and this confusion is obviously included, is the golden root to a deeper and long lasting understanding of that very useful skill… Now, I don’t know if you are already aware of it or just about to be aware of it, but if you think about WHERE you WEREin that situation, but instead, if you were (decided maybe) to forget to remember what it actually was and instead of that thing, how would you do like to feel in that situation? Maybe all of a sudden, you can now remember what is that you wanted to remember instead of what it was that you couldn’t forget! In fact, I believe it is the other way not-around. If you want to get more confused and blame me for that confusion, go ahead, because we’re going to clear it all up for you. Very clean, even cleaner than what it wasn’t just before.Think! If you do not remember what it IS that you don’t want to remember, then isn’t it clear that you’re remembering to forget what it is that you shouldn’t, or on the other end, it is very clear, that, what was left is for you to remember what it is that you want to feel exactly when you want to feel it. Isn’t it not what I’m not saying? It gets better, just now: Because now, with that terrible feeling that you didn’t have, well, you know, that you WON’T have but you didn’t want to have, that you used to have until you simply couldn’t remember what it was, now, because if you did remember, it couldn’t be logical, because if you remember what it is that you want to feel, then you will! How could you remember what it is that you couldn’t remember not to forget to remember anyhow? Now, before we move on, what would you rather feel in that situation, yet not again? Because if you think about it, can you remember what it is you feel about anything, any time or any way, if you know you’d rather feel good or better, because you seethere are times when you remember to feel bad, then you could forget to remember not to forget to remember any more about this idea. And you do need to do just that, because you already remember far too much so just forget about it! Listen, if instead of doing what it is that you weren’t doing anymore because you remembered to forget about it, haven’t you had to do something else? Instead of? And instead of what it is not, if you, for example, looked right at what is left, then it would not matter to you, because what is right (point to his right arm) and that is my right (point towards your right arm) but my right is on YOUR left. You see, it means that you would have to take the whole thing and turn it around from the inside out all the way through the middle, pull it up and throw it back down, and once you choose to do something new, it will grow into a new pattern.

And it can sound confusing, but isn’t it right? What’s left for you is to be able to take the right thing and put it under the right perspective, because if you already have an idea that you don’t want, then there’s no reason to not remember to forget it! And in the future, when it is time to remember, then just remember to feel GOOD! How easier could we even make it? This one will be hard to test, because we’d have to remind you of what you forgot. But you could put the memory in an envelope and mail it to yourself if you really want to test this! Just don’t try to bring up the memory right after the session.”

Now here’s a step-by-step guide. Let’s go over the code and then demonstrate how to make it work for you:

Plus 1 - to remember

Minus 1 - to forget

Plus 1 - not to forget (= remember)

Minus 1 - not to remember (= forget)

Plus 1 - remember to remember (= remember)

Minus 1 - remember to forget (= forget)

Plus 1 - forget to forget (= remember)

Minus 1 - forget not to forget (= forget)

Plus 1 - you know (= remember or the following is true)

Minus 1 - But instead (= forget or cancel the previous)

And so on. It’s very easy to understand. If you want them to hold onto the piece of information, the conclusion, or the suggestion you’re giving them, you’re ending your code with a sum of Plus 1 (or more). If you’d like their minds to forget a behavior, a pattern of thought, or other useful-to-forget things, you conclude at Minus 1 (or less).

Step 1: Follow this example. #

Observe how we do the math. First, we’ll provide the text, and then we’ll break it down. “You see, because it does make all the difference in the world when you discover, that even when suddenly all kinds of things that you simply could remember simply to remember instead of forget to remember when you wanted to remember to forget what those things were not! It’s easy to understand when you learn the Binary Code of Forgetfulness.” you simply could remember - Plus 1 simply to remember - Plus 1 forget to remember - Minus 1 remember to forget - Minus 1 what those things were not! - Minus 1 Sum = Minus 1 I used to use my thumbs as indicators—right thumb in the Plus 1 and left thumb in the Minus 1. When one of them is up, I would know that the equation is not balanced and towards which end it influences the listener—if my right thumb was the only thumb up, it meant “remember,” when the left was, it meant “forget” and when both were, it meant balance. You end your Binary Code hypnotic suggestion with a balance when you just want to send the person into a very deep TDS.

Step 2: Try computing it yourself. #

Now, you can try it yourself. Here’s another passage from the first part of the lesson, to see if you can mark down the binary code from it:“Now, before we move on, what would you rather feel in that situation, yet not again? Because if you think about it, can you remember what it is you feel about anything, any time or any way—if you know you’d rather feel good or better, because you see there are times when you remember to feel bad, then you could forget to remember not to forget to remember any more about this idea. And you do need to do just that, because you already remember far too much, so just forget about it!” Plus 1, Minus 1 = 0 (balanced) Plus 1, Minus 1, Plus 1 = Plus 1 (= remember) Minus 1, Minus 1, Minus 1 = nonsense, unless you want them to never forget how annoying you can be. There are almost no rules in the Binary Code of Forgetfulness. The only thing to keep in mind is that you should have a balanced set of “Plus 1 and Minus 1” statements, and eventually be either Plus 1 or Minus 1 at the end of it, or at least balanced. That means, that going for 10 times of Minus 1 will not create the effect you would like. You have to create the illusion of balance so their minds won’t be overly protective and cancel everything you said. Once there are almost the same number of Plus 1 statements and Minus 1 statements, it would be extremely hard and complex for anyone to keep track of it. Say Minus 1 ten times and only once say Plus 1 and it’s pretty obvious what you’re trying to do. That’s the ultimate power of this method. We use it in therapy for so many things, from pain relief to trauma resolution and much more.

Step 3: Practice this in the field. #

Try this with clients or friends, getting good at keeping score. It does not require a complicated approach to be effective.

Step 4: Test. #

See how well the method works in managing the material that your clients are dealing with. Try to practice inducing both forgetting and remembering.