Some people process information by way of what they see, others are more dominant in responding to what they hear and some process information through feel or touch.  These dominant sensory orientations are more commonly known as visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic.  Although most people are generally rounded in all three, we typically have a dominant sensory orientation.  Some people process information visually, through thinking in pictures, whilst others hear the world – remembering sounds and processing information through what they hear more so than the other sensory inputs.  Others feel the world, rely on their feelings and touch as their main sources of information transference.  One way to determine how a person takes in information in their main orientated form is through listening to how they speak.  An auditory person will use phrases such as “I hear what you’re saying” or “I find that shirt loud”.  A visual person on the other hand with use verbal cues such as “I see what you’re saying is correct/wrong”, or “That appeared to me a bit strange”.  A kinaesthetic person will use words which represent touch or feeling such as “I felt that I did well on this test”, “I grasped that information fairly easily”.  Typically the use of verbs in their sentences is a good way of determining which orientation they’re most suited to.

In the client hypnotherapist relationship, it’s a must that a therapist understands how the client ‘sees’, ‘hears’ or ‘feels’ the world to best communicate with that client.  There is no point in using phrases or forms of communication out of line with a client’s orientation as it will make it harder to communicate with that client.  Although it must be said that most people are well versed in all three orientations, for a therapist to really connect, they must use that orientation that the client is best suited to.

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