What is it that individuals bring to their relationships when they first become involved with each other or even when they have been in a committed relationship for many years? Each person brings his or her own emotional history and past interactions with caregivers. If these experiences have been negative, one might describe it their “baggage”. Each person may superimpose old experiences and expectations onto their partners. When this occurs, it can be looked at as a trance state. When a partner reminds them in some way of people they grew up with, those reminders can be positive or negative. If the characteristic is negative, it can trigger a negative trance state. A negative trance state is an early negative experience with a caregiver that creates problems in the present day relationship when the partner can “become” the disliked caregiver even if he or she is really not like that person. Sometimes one person will bring out the expected behavior from the other. It can also happen that one person “sees” expected behavior in the other even when their partner does not resemble the historical person at all.

Ericksonian hypnosis enhances couples therapy and is an approach that not only enables people to have good and healing trance experiences, but also helps people move out of life-long negative trance states into a more positive and realistic emotional place. These negative beliefs and expectations can color people’s actions, choices and relationships. Ericksonian hypnotherapy is a gentle approach that deepens the therapy and helps to  improve the way couples see each other and communicate together.