Process Goals in Hypnotherapy: 3 Creative Hypnotherapy Skills to Help Clients Make Progress

As hypnotherapists, we're used to helping clients set goals. Someone wants to overcome a phobia, feel more confident, manage anxiety or make a significant change in their life. We explore what they want to achieve, what life might look like when they've achieved it, and how we can help them get there.

But there's an important distinction between outcome goals and process goals, and it's one that offers some interesting opportunities for hypnotherapy.

In this article, I'll explore three creative ways to use hypnosis to help clients recognise and work towards process goals, going beyond simply discussing goals or setting homework. And towards the end, I'll show you how the same approach can help you develop your own hypnotherapy business, particularly if you're frustrated by slow progress or an appointment diary that isn't as full as you'd like.

Developing Hypnotherapy Skills: Outcome Goals vs Process Goals in Hypnotherapy

An outcome goal is the result someone wants to achieve. It's the destination.

A process goal focuses on the actions, behaviours and choices that help someone move towards that destination.

For example, a client might come to you because they want to feel confident speaking in meetings. That's their outcome goal.

But what does becoming more confident actually involve?

Perhaps it involves contributing one idea during a meeting, rather than remaining silent. Perhaps it means practising expressing an opinion without rehearsing it endlessly beforehand. Or it might involve learning to tolerate the uncomfortable feelings that arise when they become the centre of attention.

These are process goals.

They're things the client can actually do, rather than outcomes they're hoping will happen.

And that distinction is important because we don't always have direct control over our outcomes.

A client can't simply decide to feel confident. They can't necessarily choose to stop experiencing anxiety, and they certainly can't control how other people respond to them.

But they can begin making different choices about how they respond to situations, where they direct their attention and what they do next.

Process goals shift the focus from achieving a particular result to engaging in the behaviours that make change more likely.

Why Process Goals Can Be So Useful in Hypnotherapy

One of the difficulties with focusing entirely on outcome goals is that progress can be difficult to recognise.

Imagine a client who wants to achieve a promotion at work.

Getting that promotion might take months, or even years, and depends on factors beyond their control. There needs to be a suitable opportunity, other people will be involved in the decision, and there may be competition from colleagues.

If getting promoted is their only measure of success, they could spend a long time feeling as though they're getting nowhere.

But by establishing process goals, they can begin recognising progress much sooner.

Perhaps they've started contributing more confidently in meetings, taking on additional responsibilities or developing their leadership skills. They might notice that they're becoming more comfortable expressing their opinions or handling difficult conversations.

These are meaningful changes, regardless of whether they've received a promotion.

And there's something else going on here.

When clients begin taking small, achievable actions, they have opportunities to experience themselves behaving differently. They're not simply imagining a different future; they're creating experiences that can influence what they expect from themselves.

This is particularly interesting from a hypnotherapy perspective because expectation and agency are so central to the work we do.

A client who repeatedly experiences themselves taking manageable steps towards change may begin to develop different expectations about what they're capable of.

And those expectations can influence what happens next.

Of course, process goals need to be appropriate to the individual and their circumstances. The aim isn't to suggest that everyone can achieve their desired outcome simply by trying harder.

It's about identifying where meaningful influence is possible and helping clients recognise and develop it.

1. Use Symbolic Representation to Explore Process Goals

One of the particularly interesting things about hypnosis is the opportunity to work symbolically.

Rather than asking clients to describe a process goal in purely practical terms, we can invite them to represent it through an image, object, shape or other symbol.

For example, a client might want to become more independent after a period of anxiety. Their outcome goal is to feel comfortable going out alone, but their process goals might involve taking short walks, visiting familiar places or gradually extending the time they spend outside.

During hypnosis, you could invite them to imagine an object that represents taking the first step towards greater independence.

Perhaps they imagine a key, a bridge, a pathway or something entirely unexpected.

Rather than interpreting the symbol for them, we can explore what it means to the client.

What do they notice about it? What does it represent? Is there something they could do with it? Does it change as they explore the possibility of taking that first step?

A client who imagines a bridge might discover that they're concentrating on reaching the other side, rather than noticing that they can begin by taking one step onto it.

Another client might imagine a heavy door and realise that they've been approaching their goal as something requiring enormous effort, when a smaller action might be more accessible.

And because the representation comes from the client, rather than being imposed by the therapist, it can lead to some unexpected and useful conversations.

We can then bring the symbolic experience back to a practical process goal.

What would taking that first step across the bridge look like in everyday life? What small action could the client take before the next session?

Symbolic work allows us to explore the client's relationship with change, rather than simply asking them to identify the actions they need to take.

2. Explore How Process Goals Feel in the Body

We can also use hypnosis to explore the bodily experience of taking action.

Clients sometimes identify process goals that sound perfectly reasonable when discussed, but feel very different when they imagine actually carrying them out.

For example, a client working towards greater social confidence might decide to initiate a conversation with someone at work.

They understand what they need to do, and intellectually it seems manageable.

But when they imagine approaching that person, they notice tension in their shoulders, a tightening in their stomach or an urge to withdraw.

Rather than treating those sensations as obstacles that need to disappear, we can use hypnosis to explore them.

Invite the client to imagine themselves approaching the situation and notice what happens in their body.

Where do they experience a sense of readiness? Where do they notice discomfort? Does anything change when they imagine taking a smaller step?

Perhaps imagining a lengthy conversation produces considerable discomfort, but imagining a simple greeting feels much more accessible.

We can then explore what happens when the client imagines taking that smaller action.

How does their body respond? What changes when they imagine completing the action? Can they notice a sense of movement, steadiness or growing familiarity?

This can also be incorporated into hypnotic rehearsal, allowing clients to experience themselves taking action while acknowledging whatever sensations arise.

By exploring process goals through bodily experience, we move beyond talking about change and begin helping clients experience themselves engaging with it.

3. Explore the Stories We Construct About Our Experiences

We all construct stories about our experiences.

We remember what happened, interpret what it means and gradually develop ideas about ourselves based on those interpretations.

And when we're working towards a goal, the story we tell ourselves is often heavily influenced by whether we've achieved the outcome we wanted.

A client might say they've made no progress with their anxiety because they still feel anxious in social situations.

But what does that story leave out?

Perhaps they've started accepting invitations they would previously have declined. Perhaps they've learned that they can tolerate uncomfortable feelings, or that a difficult experience doesn't necessarily mean the next one will be equally difficult.

These experiences can easily be overlooked when the client is concentrating entirely on the outcome.

Hypnosis offers an interesting opportunity to explore and expand these stories.

For example, you might invite your client to imagine a book representing their experiences over the past few weeks or months.

As they open the book, they discover pages containing pictures, memories or scenes from situations they've encountered.

Rather than asking them to identify their achievements, invite them to explore what they've learned.

Perhaps one page shows a situation that didn't go particularly well. But as they look more closely, they recognise something useful about how they responded, what they attempted or what they might do differently next time.

Another page might contain an experience they had almost forgotten, something relatively small that nevertheless represented a change in their behaviour.

You can invite them to explore the pictures, notice what stands out and consider whether there are other ways of understanding those experiences.

Perhaps the title of a chapter changes as they begin to recognise something they hadn't previously considered.

A chapter that was originally about failure might become a chapter about experimentation, persistence or discovering what doesn't work.

And this can be particularly useful when identifying process goals.

What have they learned about the actions that help them? What have they discovered about the situations they find difficult? What might they want to experiment with next?

By shifting attention from what clients have achieved to what they've learned, we can help them recognise progress that might otherwise remain invisible.

Bringing Hypnotherapy Skills Into Your Own Hypnotherapy Business

Now, here's where we can apply the same principles to ourselves.

I've worked with and trained hypnotherapists for many years, and one of the things I've noticed is how often we approach our own businesses very differently from the way we encourage clients to approach change.

We help clients recognise small steps, develop realistic expectations and notice progress.

Then we go home, look at our appointment diary and decide we're failing because we haven't got enough clients.

Perhaps your goal is to see 15 clients a week, earn £3,000 a month or develop a waiting list.

These are outcome goals.

And just like our clients, we don't have complete control over whether or when those outcomes happen.

We can't force someone to book an appointment. We can't guarantee that a social media post will generate enquiries. And we can't control how quickly our reputation develops.

But we can establish process goals.

Perhaps you'll publish one useful article every fortnight, contact one potential referral partner each week or set aside regular time to improve your website.

And we can use the same three approaches we've explored in our therapeutic work.

Find a symbol for the process of building your business. Perhaps you imagine planting something, building a structure or travelling along a path. What does your representation suggest about the way you're approaching business development? Are you concentrating so much on the finished result that you're overlooking the smaller actions involved in getting there?

Notice how different business activities feel in your body. Perhaps you've decided you should start making videos, but imagining yourself recording one brings up considerable discomfort. Rather than abandoning the idea or forcing yourself to do it, explore a smaller step. Could you begin by recording a short video that you don't publish? Could you practise speaking to the camera for two minutes?

Explore the story you're telling yourself about your business. If you were to imagine a book containing the experiences you've had while developing your practice, what would be on its pages? Perhaps there are marketing activities that didn't generate enquiries but taught you something valuable about your audience. Perhaps there are conversations that helped you become more confident explaining your work. What have you learned, even during periods when the results weren't what you hoped for?

None of these approaches replaces practical business planning. We still need to understand our audience, evaluate our marketing and recognise when something isn't working.

But they can help us approach business development with greater curiosity, flexibility and awareness of the choices available to us.

They give us something meaningful to explore through hypnosis itself.

Whether we're using symbolic representation, bodily awareness or exploring the stories clients construct about their experiences, we're helping them engage with the actions, choices and learning involved in change, rather than focusing exclusively on the end result.

Because whether we're talking about therapeutic change or building a hypnotherapy business, it's often the things we do consistently, and what we learn from those experiences, rather than the results we demand of ourselves, that make the biggest difference.