10 Best Ways to Establish Rapport
Are you a practicing hypnotherapist? In that case, here’s a skill worth developing in your career. Establishing a rapport with your clients is an important skill for a hypnotherapist to have on par with the hypnosis skills themselves. This is because without the rapport with your clients, they’ll have an extra difficult journey during the hypnosis process.
A good rapport means as a potential client of yours, we are more likely to take direction seriously and “do as requested” by the person who is guiding us in the hypnosis session.
If that sounds great to you as the up-and-coming, eager hypnotherapist, then you’ve come to a welcome place. These are 10 of the best ways to establish rapport with your potential clients.
1. Appearance
You don’t have to look like someone fresh off the fashion week runway, or even wear a 3-piece suit, however looking unkempt and scruffy is not the best call either. When I say professional, I mean presenting yourself as clean, tidy, and no strong odours (good along with bad; a strong body spray can be just as off-putting as BO).
Style what suits you, but if you are going to sport a t-shirt and jeans, make sure they are fresh and decent. Holes do not suit this look.
Your appearance affects the first impression of you as a potential hypnotherapist. Make sure it’s in your favour.
2. Positive Body Language
Start with good eye contact. Too little and you may appear unconfident and shy; too much, and you may seem overbearing. A good aim is for 70% of the time to maintain eye contact.
Smiling is another wonderful way to build rapport, as it produces the feel-good chemicals in our brains. If we smile at someone, chances are they will smile back.
Is your body language speaking confidently, or do you appear shy or closed off? Your body language may show too much confidence, which would appear aggressive. To ensure you are practicing positive body language, you can video record yourself interacting with someone (with their permission, of course) and watch it back to see how you appear from the third person perspective.
3. Effective Communication
When speaking with someone, it’s important we engage in “active listening.” Pay attention to what the person is saying, instead of thinking of what you are going to say next, or half-listening while distracted and looking at something else. Giving someone your full attention, listening, and engaging with someone will make them feel like you care, that you are attentive to their needs, and that the space you are providing is a good one to be in.
4. Paraphrasing and Echoing
Paraphrasing, i.e. repeating what your client has said but not in their exact words, will let them know you want to understand them correctly.
Echoing, i.e. repeating what your client says, also called backtracking, can also reassure your client you are understanding them correctly.
5. Remembering Names
When someone remembers your name, you feel like they care, that you are important to them. If you struggle with memorizing names, there are memory tricks or “mnemonics” to help you learn names more efficiently. Thinking of something to link to a person’s name can be a quick and straightforward way to learn their name.
6. Mirroring
Mirroring is reflecting what your client does and says back to them, just like a mirror. You can mirror the build of their body, the tilt of their head, emotional (facial) expression, and physiological rhythms.
For example, if someone taps something with their feet, you can mirror the rhythm by doing something similar with your hand with the same rhythm. Gestures whether small or large you can do the same. Or if they don’t make any gestures, keep still, mirroring their position and movement of legs, body language, and energy level. Read their energy and body language, then match so you’re in sync.
7. Breathing
Speaking of mirroring, breathing can also be mirrored. Tap the table to the same rhythm and slowly lead to a relaxed tempo, for example. Placing your hand on your client’s shoulder and pressing more or less when inhaling and exhaling, when inhaling press less and less. This is called crossover mirroring.
This being said, there’s really no need to literally mirror. Turning on your peripheral vision helps to perceive someone’s breathing and makes it easier to match.
8. Empathy
Empathy is understanding and seeing things from a distinct perspective. Recognizing that others may think about things differently or feel differently about things to you can help you communicate with them more effectively.
Allow your client enough time to speak about themselves, meanwhile acknowledging their present feelings and emotions, even if you do not necessarily agree with them or feel them yourself. Ask questions relating to what they are speaking about and be curious and emotionally intuitive in your interactions.
9. Appropriateness
When you engage with a client or potential client, make sure you remain within the boundaries of that particular social interaction. This means keep it professional, for example not speaking of how your day has been going, previous clients who put you in a mood, or any un-therapy-related things that may be on your mind.
The hypnotherapy session is about your client and their needs. We need to ensure our own issues do not get intertwined in theirs, even if you feel they may relate.
10. A Little Humour Doesn’t Hurt
As the saying goes, “laughter is the best medicine.” In this case, your client is here for hypnotherapy, not for a comedy routine. However, it doesn’t hurt to build your rapport with some mild humour. You don’t need to be a naturally funny person; you can say something lighthearted and appropriate, and you could use a video you find on the Internet.
Be sure your client is open to a little humour first before you dive into this part. Again, make sure the humour is “safe for work”. A little chuckle can make you both relaxed, help you open up to talking to each other, and build a good rapport.
The above 10 ways to establish rapport can help you as a hypnotherapist create a solid rapport with potential clients and build a solid foundation for your career.
Are you still interested in learning more about rapport for your clients? Feel free to contact me about any questions you might have. And if hypnotherapy piques your interest as a career path, feel free to inquire about my 12-month training program to become a certified clinical hypnotherapist.
Stay tuned for more hypnotherapist blogs in the future.
Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to Healing Soul Hypnosis and a clickable link back to this page.
