Contingent suggestions link what you want to have happen to something that is already happening, or that is inevitably going to happen. In other words, the suggestion “rides on the back” of an ongoing experience or an everyday behaviour.
This form of suggestion has been used for well over a hundred years, and remains one of the most practical tools in both formal hypnosis and posthypnotic work. Once you understand how it functions, you can begin to weave it naturally into your language so that change becomes the “obvious next step” in whatever your client is already doing.
What Is a Contingent Suggestion?
A contingent suggestion is a statement of the form:
“As / When X happens, Y will happen.”
X is something that:
- Is already occurring (e.g. a sensation, a movement, a feeling), or
- Will inevitably occur (e.g. going to bed, brushing teeth, hearing a familiar song).
Y is the response or change you want to install (e.g. relaxation, insight, movement, emotion, behaviour).
By doing this, you are not asking the client to do something “out of the blue”. You are simply guiding what happens next in a sequence that has already begun.
Simple Examples
Here are some straightforward illustrations of contingent suggestions:
“And as your hand lowers, you will find yourself going back to a time when that pattern began to form.”
“And when you feel the touch of his body in bed, you may be surprised at the flood of erotic, intimate memories that come to mind.”
Notice the structure. There is an “as” or a “when” that points to something that will certainly happen, and then there is the direction you want the mind to take as that event unfolds.
Chaining Suggestions Together
Contingent suggestions are closely related to the idea of “chaining” suggestions. Instead of one single link (“when X then Y”), you link several suggestions in sequence, each one contingent on the last.
For example, with a subject whose arm is already floating, you might say:
> “And as you become aware of the numbness beginning to develop in that hand, it will begin to float up even lighter toward your face, and your mind will begin drifting back through time to the beginning of that problem, and as the arm floats up higher, you drift further and further back through time.”
Here, multiple elements are chained together:
- Becoming aware of numbness.
- The hand floating lighter toward the face.
- The mind drifting back through time.
- Drifting further back as the arm rises higher.
Each step is contingent on the previous one. The logic is: as this naturally happens, that also happens, and as that happens, something else unfolds. When two or more suggestions are linked in this way, they are often harder for the client’s unconscious to dismiss because they feel like a natural progression rather than isolated instructions.
Common Phrasing Patterns
Certain introductory phrases are particularly useful when forming contingent suggestions. You will notice how familiar and non-threatening they sound:
- “And when …”
- “As …”
- “As soon as …”
You will also often find the words “until” and “then” playing a key role:
- “If … then …”
- “… until …”
These are the linguistic hinges that connect what is already happening to what you want to encourage.
Choosing Effective Triggers
To use contingent suggestions for posthypnotic effects, you will usually need to attach them to inevitable cues or triggers in your client’s everyday life. These are simple, routine events that you can safely assume will continue to occur:
- Lying down in bed
- Tying a shoelace
- Brushing your teeth
- Seeing your house
- Hearing a specific song
Each of these can act as a reliable “X” in the “when X then Y” format. For instance:
“When you lie down in bed at night, you can begin to notice how much more calm and centred you feel.”
“As you brush your teeth each morning, you’ll automatically remember to take a deep, steady breath and set a positive intention for the day.”
Typical Contingent Forms
Below are some common sentence stems that illustrate how flexible contingent suggestions can be. You can fill in the blanks to suit the specific change you are aiming for:
- “While you ____, you can ____.”
- “When you ____, please ____.”
- “Don’t ____ until you ____.”
- “You won’t ____ until ____.”
- “Why don’t you ____ before you ____.”
- “The closer you get to ____, the more you can ____.”
- “After you ____, you can ____.”
- “As you feel ____, you recognize ____.”
- “The feeling of ____ will allow you to ____.”
- “And as ____ occurs, ____ may occur more than you’d expect.”
- “And when you ____, you’ll ____.”
Each of these patterns subtly embeds a sequence: first this, then that. They assume cooperation and movement towards the desired outcome.
“As Soon As … Then …”
You can refine the structure even further with very specific internal cues, especially in trance:
“As soon as…”
- “your arm feels numb”
- “you can no longer feel your legs”
- “your unconscious knows”
- “you have gone back in time to …”
“THEN, your arm will lower.”
Here the client’s own internal experience becomes the trigger for the next response. You are effectively saying: once your unconscious has completed its part, then the body will signal it by doing this.
Putting It All Together
The essence of contingent suggestions is simple:
- Notice or choose something that is already happening, or will inevitably happen.
- Link your desired response or outcome to that event using phrases like “as,” “when,” “as soon as,” “until,” and “then.”
- Where useful, chain several contingent suggestions together so that each one naturally leads into the next.
By working with what is already present in the client’s experience, contingent suggestions allow change to emerge as the most natural “next step” in the sequence of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.