The call came mid afternoon when a very panicky voice asked for help! She was the manageress of a jewellery store in the South of England and had taken charge of a new store that day. Her first action was to change the combination of the safe. She selected the new numbers and at some time in the afternoon closed the safe door and twirled the combination lock.
Then the realisation, she had forgotten the new numbers! Yellow pages came to the rescue and she found me on the Isle of Wight and phoned in desperation, could I help? This was one of the more fascinating challenges so I readily agreed to meet her off the Hovercraft, bring her to my home from where I work and conduct a session to enhance the memory and recall those magic numbers. I explained that there was no guarantee that a hypnosis session would be successful in helping her to remember, but assured her that her subconscious mind had a record of all her daily dealings particularly the combination, and that hypnosis could be useful in bringing that memory forward. I explained fully how hypnosis works, answered any questions that may have been on her mind and then proceeded with the session.
Many of the details were still fresh in her mind. I had her recall what she was wearing, where she was, details about her movements, and the office lay out, lighting and many small details. I then got her to imagine the piece of paper on which she had written the numbers, before destroying it. I guided her gently but with slightly stronger suggestions when it came to “seeing the paper.” Very quickly and rather excitedly she recalled the details down to the numbers and their significance. Two were related to family birthdays!
Next step was to run her back to the Hovercraft and await the outcome, not sure who was the most filled with anticipation! Then the call. “Whoopee, it’s open”, a very relieved manageress and new convert to the wonders of hypnotherapy, or at least the wonders of the subconscious mind’s memory!