Hey. I’m just some rando furry on the internet. Take these definitions with a drop of salt water.

Main Terms

Abreaction - An emotional outburst or ‘hitting a nerve’ during a hypnosis session. It’s usually pretty messy. This is very rare in recreational hypnosis, but it can happen.

CNC (Consensual Non-Consent) - Where you consent to do something without consent later.

Deepener - A technique used during a hypnosis session to guide the subject into feeling more relaxed and suggestible. A deepener usually takes place after the induction. Common deepeners are a count-down deepener with a staircase metaphor, or a countdown where you can just ‘relax the numbers away’ similar to the Elman Induction, or really even just describing any building feelings with an attached scene (EG, floating above a city or scene.)

Drop - Drop, or being ‘dropped,’ is slang for going into hypnosis. This can alternatively mean a sudden change in the feeling of hypnotic depth. It’s commonly spoken, “Man, I haven’t been dropped in a month.”

Fractionation - A technique that involves bringing a person in and out of a trance-like state multiple times in a single session. This method aims to deepen the trance state with each cycle, allowing the subject to reach a heightened state of suggestibility that can persist for a while after they come out of trance. This technique can also make it very easy for the subject to quickly return to trance after a session - this state of suggestibility can last from a few minutes to a few hours.

Group Drop - A group hypnosis session. These are generally designed to allow you to veto any suggestions you dislike.

Induction - The process a hypnotist uses to induce a state of hypnosis. This is usually mentioned in line with a technique or script. For example, “Man. I used the Dr. Flowers induction on my subject last night. I couldn’t get them to stop counting, so I took off my headset and got a Coke, and they were at like negative fifty. I probably could have managed that better.”

Marbling - This is specific to certain VRC Furs hypnosis groups. Marbling is slang for an NLP and waking hypnosis technique where thoughts and concepts are concentrated into a marble or object in the subject’s mind. It can be removed, modified, and put back in. This can also be used to’ concentrate all of your speech into a ball’ and have someone temporarily remove it.

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) - It is a subset of both waking hypnosis and experimental aspects of suggestion. It’s common to use NLP elements in hypnotic speech to improve its effectiveness.

Open Induction - If a ‘tist is doing an induction in a public area, they can suggest that “this session is for [subject’s name]. However, anyone else is welcome to join in and follow along.”

Splash Damage - Slang for feeling the effects of someone else’s session that was in earshot. This can be intentional or unintentional. “It was late as shit. I felt stuck in my chair, and I couldn’t figure out why. Then I realized there was a session going on nearby and I was getting hit with splash damage. Uh. It was kinda nice so I just kinda… sat in my chair and let it happen. Woke up three hours later. ”

Subject - The person receiving a session from a hypnotist. This can have two connotations. In the more common sense, it’s just another person fulfilling the role for a session. In another, if it’s in the context of “Somebody’s Subject,” denoting ownership, it can mean that they’ve developed a sense of trust with that hypnotist, or a bit closer to a relationship, or they regularly do sessions.

‘Tist - Slang for a hypnotist.

Safeties - This has varying definitions - but it is a class of hypnotic suggestions or instructions to keep hypnosis fun and safe. This can go from suggesting a red-light system, allowing the subject to back out if something is uncomfortable, giving them the ability to remove suggestions or triggers at will, or even suggestions to disallow unethical suggestions.

Suggestion - A statement intended to have a hypnotic effect. EG: “As you feel relaxed, and settle into the chair, and listen to the sounds of my voice, you can feel yourself begin to go deeper and deeper into that relaxation, letting go and sinking into the chair.” The statements about feeling relaxed, settling into the chair, and listening to the sounds of my voice are all pacing (following along with the subject) statements. These are not suggestions since they’re already happening. The suggestion here is “you can feel yourself begin to go deeper and deeper into that relaxation, letting go and sinking into the chair.” In this technique, pacing matches where the subject is currently and, with a leading suggestion, guides them into relaxation.

Session - A set-aside time between a hypnotist and subject. It usually involves a pre-talk, induction, deepener, possibly triggers, hypnotic suggestions, and coming out of trance.

Trancee - A gentler term for a subject. ‘Subject’ can have ‘Dominance/submission’ connotations.

Trigger - Any action or stimulus that causes a reaction. For example, the trigger “muzzle” to prevent someone from speaking for some time. Safely crafting a trigger takes some degree of forethought.

Waking Hypnosis - A state of heightened focus and suggestibility during a normal waking state, making individuals more receptive to ideas without requiring a trance.

Glossary For Hypnotists

Catalepsy - A state where a body part (or muscle group) becomes rigid or unmovable. EG - ‘small muscle catalepsy’ “Just close and relax your eyes, and when you’ve convinced yourself that they’re so relaxed that you couldn’t possibly open them, give me a nod.” Or, large muscle catalepsy, “Feeling your body drift down into that wave of relaxation, so far down that every muscle lets go, becoming so relaxed you couldn’t possibly move.”

Generalized Reality Orientation - Unconsciously processing sensory input to derive proprioception, sound direction, and other general senses.

Ideoaffective Response - The effect of thinking of a specific time or instance where a feeling was strong, re-creating the experience and feelings.

Modality - A sense or type of feeling. EG, is it an emotion, touch, smell, mood… Those would all be modalities.

Nominalization - A subject’s reduced concept. EG, ‘freedom’ - could be a feeling, but we don’t know that for sure. We can either utilize this directly, unmodified, or ask them to talk more and expand on it.

Pacing and Leading the subject - You can ‘pace’ the subject by repeating things they’ve already felt. If you chain a few things pacing with them, you can lead them in a new direction afterward.

Parrot Phrasing - I hate this - but repeating precisely what the subject said, without modification. There’s no guarantee that ” freedom ” means the same thing between two people, so if you want an unmodified effect, use an exact word just as it was. This does not mean you should repeat the whole sentence; it should just be the same word.

Reality Testing - Checking your senses (specifically, ones from your Generalized Reality Orientation,) for accuracy.

Transderivational Search (TDS) - when someone is presented with vague or ambiguous content, leading them to look inside their mind for meaning and understanding, likely bringing those feelings and associations to the surface. EG: “And what is that like inside?” Or even, a common manipulative one, “You did it again, didn’t you!”

Utilization - How something is used to assist in deepening trance. Eg: suggesting that noticing conversation around you leaves just as easily as it came, and as you watch the thought leave, this relaxes you and deepens your trance.

Common Inductions

Dave Elman Induction - An induction that starts with eye closure, arm heaviness (and traditionally dropping the arm onto the leg), the suggestion of full body catalepsy, and has the subject count down from 100. The induction is ‘done’ when the subject no longer recalls the following number.

Dr. Flowers - Begins with an eye fixation. Generally, the subject will be counted down from 20, blinking on each number, sending them into a deeper state of relaxation and trance. The Dr. Flowers induction relies heavily on fractionation as part of the induction.

PMR (Progressive Muscle Relaxation) - Similar to a ‘body scan’ meditation - this induction steps through the entire body, step by step until the whole body is relaxed. The subject tenses and relaxes their muscles on each step in some variations.