The Dave Elman Induction: How to Master This Classic and Essentially Perfect Hypnotic Induction

Last updated: September 13, 2026

Every hypnotist needs to know how to do the Elman Induction. It's an easy and incredibly powerful hypnotic induction. It takes less than 4 minutes to achieve a somnambulistic trance in most cases. It's also important that you learn this induction correctly. So many hypnotists teach this incorrectly!

It may be old school but ...

Hypnosis is undergoing its greatest surge of interest since the 1880s. As a result, there is a flood of information in the form of books, websites, trainings, YouTube videos, etc., many claiming to provide the latest and greatest hypnotic induction ever.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of ways to create a hypnotic trance, from drumming and eye fixation, to language tricks and deep breathing. In light of all this new information, why would a hypnotist want to use something “old” like the Elman Induction?

Because it works. And it works really quickly, and really well.

Although it's true that there are much faster "shock inductions" that utilize a PGO spike to create trance in just seconds, the remarkable hypnotic induction developed by Dave Elman, is quick and essentially perfect, creating deep trance in 4 minutes or less with most subjects; even if they’ve never been hypnotized before.

The Elman Induction is logical, easy to learn, and the perfect go-to induction for hypnotherapy. In fact, it’s so good, that I recommend that you do it exactly as I teach it.

In my more than fifty years of full-time hypnosis, I’ve seen many versions of Dave Elman’s work, as hypnotists put their own spin on his method, apparently thinking they’re making it even better. But any attempts to “improve” this brilliant induction are a waste of time at best, and will only result in lessening its effect in some way.

Please note too, that no less than Col. Larry Elman, Dave Elman’s son, approves of the way I teach his father’s induction.

What's quietly engineered into it

There is a great deal built into this induction that you may not notice unless you're looking for it.

There are built-in yes sets and compliance sets, so the agreement and the easy obedience happen naturally as you go. There is built-in fractionation, six times in a row, and fractionation is probably the most dependable deepener you can use in hypnosis. And there is built-in testing at every stage, so you always know whether it's working.

Most importantly, the subject is highly involved in their own induction. They're not just sitting there while you read a script at them and tell them they're relaxing. They are involved in making this work, and an active subject is a good subject. The more you can involve the subject in the creation, maintenance and termination of their own trance, the better it will work for them and for you.

The late Jerry Kein used to say that about 90% of people experience somnambulism the very first time you do this on them, even if they have no previous experience of going into hypnosis. He also said you should be able to get somnambulism in four minutes or less with an untrained subject. That is a remarkably high strike rate for any induction, let alone one this simple.

Watch the Dave Elman Induction being performed

Before we deconstruct it, here is the whole thing in action, so you can hear the pacing and see what each step actually looks like.

Here’s a simple outline of the Dave Elman Induction, that I will deconstruct for you. I have divided it into 5 steps:

1. Yes Set and Compliance Set
2. Eyelid Catalepsy
3. Fractionation
4. Test for Physical Relaxation
5. Mental Relaxation and Number Block

Although this may initially seem complex, there is a logic and a simplicity in this methodology. In this explanation, italics indicate the words you actually say to the subject. Bold text indicates the subject's response.

Note too, the use of the phrase “In a moment…” This preframe is vital to the Elman Induction, and guides the subject to what you’re going to be doing next.

Step 1: Yes Set and Compliance Set

First you create a Yes Set, also known as an Agreement Frame. Basically, you’re simply getting the subject to say Yes or agree with you to get rid of resistance.

Many hypnotists don’t realize that the Yes Set reduces resistance and makes the induction easier, so they wind up leaving it out. You'll have better results when you leave it in.

Can you imagine making a fist so tight that you couldn’t possibly squeeze any tighter?

Yes

And can you imagine the opposite, relaxing your hand so much that you couldn’t possibly relax it any more?

Yes

Well that’s the quality of relaxation I want you to get with this induction. In a moment, I’m going to ask you to relax the muscles around your eyes so much, that as long as you hold onto that relaxation, your eye muscles just won’t work.

Now at anytime, you could choose to be in control, and let go of that relaxation, and open your eyes, but you do that every day. I want you to stay in control by relaxing those muscles and not opening them.

You demonstrate by relaxing your own eyelids so they won’t work, and forcefully move your eyebrows up and down to model what you want the subject to do. A good demonstration will ensure they do it correctly.

You now get the subject to relax the muscles around his eyes as per your instructions. This begins creating a Compliance Set, where the subject follows your instructions without question.

It’s a great way to lead a person into trance. The subject continues the Compliance Set by moving his eyebrows up and down, while keeping his eyes shut. This causes catalepsy, and begins the shift into a trance state.

Step 2: Eyelid Catalepsy

We've marked out eyelid catalepsy as a step, but in reality it's just the result of the above compliance set! So already you can start to think of the Elman induction as just 4 steps instead of 5. See! We're making it easy for you.

Step 3: Fractionation

Now you continue:

Now stop testing and let a huge wave of relaxation flow from the top of your head to the soles of your feet...

You are now ready to begin fractionation, by having him open and close his eyes on cue, going deeper each time his eyes close.

In a moment I’m going to ask you to open your eyes. I’ll immediately pass my hand in front of your eyes and you’ll close them and go twice as deeply relaxed. Eyes open now…

Keeping your hand close to his face, pass your hand downward and say:

Eyes closed...double your relaxation…

Fractionate the subject 6 times. You will see him sinking deeper into trance, provided you remember to watch and calibrate him.

Step 4: Test for Physical Relaxation

In a moment I’m going to lift your hand by the thumb, just a couple of inches, and drop it. I want you to let me do all the lifting, and keep your arm relaxed. When I drop your hand, it will fall like a wet dishcloth.

Always warn the subject before you touch them. Don't just take hold of their hand, because you will very likely bring them out of trance. When they know your touch is coming, it doesn't disturb them at all, and it sends them deeper instead.

Lift the hand and drop it. If it splats down, you’re ready to continue. If you feel the subject lifting it, you need to go back to fractionating the subject a few more times while instructing deeper relaxation. Then continue:

Note that the hand drop is doing two jobs at once. It is a test for physical relaxation, and it is also a deepener.

Step 5: Mental Relaxation and Number Block

That’s physical relaxation, but there’s also mental relaxation. In a moment I’m going to ask you to begin counting backwards out loud from 100 like this:

100...deeper relaxed...99...deeper relaxed...doubling your mental relaxation with each number. After just a few numbers, you will have relaxed your mind so much, that there won’t be any more numbers left to say. You will have relaxed them right out of your mind. Begin now…

The subject will slowly begin counting backward from 100 and saying “Deeper relaxed…” with each number. Your task is to keep encouraging him by continuously pointing out that it’s his job to relax the numbers away. It could go like this:

100...deeper relaxed…

That’s right...banish the numbers...I can’t do it for you…

99...deeper relaxed…

Push them out of your mind...fade them away…wipe them out...

At some point (usually before 95) the subject will stop counting. You say:

All gone?

Say it exactly that way. Cheryl Elman told me to phrase it as All gone? and never as Are the numbers still there? If you ask whether the numbers are still there, you will bring them straight back, which is precisely what you don't want.

The subject must nod or answer Yes. When they do, you have somnambulism, the working state of hypnosis, and may proceed however you wish.

You must get that confirmation. If you don't get one, it may simply be that they are so comfortable that speaking feels like too much trouble. And if they say no, warn them, pick up their hand by the thumb and say I'm going to drop your hand in a moment, and when I do, the numbers will drop out of your head. Let it splat down, then ask All gone? again.

Remember that the numbers only have to disappear for a second or two. They don't have to stay gone for a week.

What if your subject works with numbers for a living?

Occasionally you will work with an accountant, an actuary, a mathematician, someone whose whole professional life is numbers. Those people can be reluctant to let the numbers go, and it isn't very likely to happen to you, but it does happen.

In that case, simply swap the numbers for the alphabet. Have them say the alphabet out loud instead. Do not have them say it backwards, because that is far too much work and it keeps their left brain fully engaged, which is the opposite of what you want.

Easy Tips to Mastering The Dave Elman Induction:

• The Elman Induction is extremely directive. You're commanding your subject to follow and respond to your instructions. Don't let the subject get ahead of you! You are the one in control with this powerful induction.
• The whole process should flow naturally. There are natural, sensible steps that build on each other to create a robust trance. Don't have awkward pauses between the steps.
• The subject must pass each step before moving to the next step. For example if you're doing the hand drop to test for physical relaxation the subject's hand MUST splat down like a wet rag. Don't move on to mental relaxation until you get that response.
• When you do the fractionation process (opening and closing the eyes), keep things moving quickly. His eyes should be open for no more than one second each time you do it.
• Sometimes, during the mental relaxation step, your subject might seem to be happy counting forever. If he's down into the 80s something is wrong. He's probably passively waiting for the numbers to vanish. You must coach your subject to banish the numbers himself. Put the responsibility on the subject to make things happen.
• Keep it moving, and do not let it become a progressive muscle relaxation induction. This is the most common way I see the Elman ruined. I once watched a well known hypnosis trainer demonstrate it, and partway through the fractionation he slowed everything down into watch my hand rise, keep looking at it, follow my hand all the way down, close your eyes, just take a moment. It comes from a lack of confidence, from the feeling that if you don't take enough time it won't work. The opposite is true. When you keep people moving they know they are going through a process and that something is happening. Act as though you have done this a hundred times before.
• Be congruent and intend it to work. If you do your eyes open and eyes closed in an offhand way, it will not work nearly as well as when you really focus as you do it.
• You don't need any convincers with this induction. Everything is built into it. They have passed the eye test, they have done every step properly, and they have had a real experience. They will know they were in hypnosis.

A simple way to get the numbers to disappear if counting goes on too long is to use a hand-drop like this:

In a moment I’m going to lift and drop your hand. When I do, the numbers will drop out of your mind.

You then pick up their hand by the thumb, wiggle it a bit and drop it.

All gone?

Yes

Can you do the Dave Elman Induction online?

This is now one of the questions I get asked most often, and the honest answer is no. You cannot do the true Dave Elman Induction over Zoom, and you shouldn't try.

The reason is physical. You can't pick up their hand by the thumb, waggle it and drop it, and that hand drop is a test you are not allowed to skip. Some people get around this by telling the subject to lift their own hand and let it fall. Don't. In order to lift that hand, the other arm has to be tonic and tense, so by definition you do not have full physical relaxation. You have one relaxed arm and one working arm, and you have learned nothing.

What you can do is borrow components of it. That is a different thing from doing the induction, and it's worth being precise about the difference, because half the confusion online comes from people calling a handful of borrowed pieces "the Elman."

Fractionation is the piece that travels best. Your subject can watch your hand on their monitor perfectly well, so you can raise your hand into frame, have them open their eyes and look at it, then lower it and have them close their eyes and double their relaxation. Six times, same as always, same intention, same brisk pace. The number block travels too. Have them count backwards silently or out loud, however you prefer to manage it.

But the better answer is to stop trying to force this one through a webcam and use an induction that was built for the conditions you're actually working in. The anti-magnetic fingers works beautifully online and has none of these constraints. The Invitation to Trance, which is purely Ericksonian, also works really well. Then add your deepeners as normal.

There is zero need to tinker with the Elman Induction to make it work online when other methods work brilliantly with no tinkering at all. Find the inductions that are strong online, and leave this one for when you're sitting across from a real person.

If you're practising in an online practice room and you want to rehearse the patter, you can swap the hand drop for In a moment I want you to imagine that I'm reaching out through the webcam and picking up your hand by the thumb, and when I snap my fingers I'm dropping that hand into your lap. That's fine for rehearsing your delivery. Just be clear with yourself that the moment you modify it, it isn't the Dave Elman Induction anymore.

Can you use it with a group?

Same principle. You cannot do the true Dave Elman Induction with a group, because you simply cannot calibrate and keep track of everybody at once. But you can drop certain parts of it and build a very good group induction out of what remains, and with a small group it works extremely well.

Keep it to fewer than about a dozen people, and make sure you can see every face. Keep your eyes moving, the way they tell you in driver's ed. Don't get so caught up in your own magnificence that you forget to calibrate the people in front of you.

Ecology comes first, always. Before you begin, tell them that no matter how much they relax they will be able to maintain their balance, so that nobody can relax to the point of falling. Do your usual pre-talk to remove any fear, because fear is the only thing that keeps a willing person out of hypnosis.

From there, have them close their eyes and pretend they can't open them, demonstrate the eyebrow test yourself, then tell them to stop trying and relax. Fractionate the whole group off your raised hand: In a moment I'll ask you all to open your eyes and look at my upraised hand, and then I'll lower my hand, and when I do, let your eyes close and go twice as deep. Five or six times is perfect. Then go around and do the thumb waggle and hand drop on each person individually, which is exactly why you want a manageable number of people.

Then set up the number block with a visual gauge. Have each person raise one hand slightly and start counting backwards internally, and tell them that as their hand sinks down the numbers fade away, and when their hand touches down the numbers will be gone. Now you can see who is with you.

Send back anyone who isn't responding, and make sure you awaken and release them properly when you do. You're wide awake, completely normal. A tap on the forehead gives them a clear marker. Then proceed with the people you have left.

Now That You Know the Correct Way ...

Resist the urge to tamper with this induction! As I mentioned earlier, I have seen many “versions” of the Elman Induction, some bizarre, and some ridiculous. I can only presume that hypnotists are seeking to make a name for themselves by creating something new.

But it’s highly unlikely that anyone will improve upon this induction. Use it as Dave Elman created it, because he was brilliant. You'll be amazed by it's logic and efficiency.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should the Dave Elman Induction take?

Four minutes or less with an untrained subject, according to the late Jerry Kein, and that has matched my own experience for decades. If it is taking substantially longer than that, the usual cause is that you have slowed it down into a relaxation induction rather than keeping it moving.

What do I do if my subject keeps counting and the numbers won't go?

If they are down into the 80s, something is wrong, and it is almost always that they are passively waiting for the numbers to vanish rather than banishing them. Coach them harder. Wipe them out. I can't do it for you. If that doesn't do it, warn them, lift their hand by the thumb and drop it, and tell them the numbers drop out with it.

Can I use the Dave Elman Induction on myself?

Yes, and it works well, although it isn't quite the original once you adapt it. In self hypnosis you end up in three roles at once: the hypnotist, the subject going into trance, and the dissociated observer watching yourself do it. Create the eyelid catalepsy and test it properly, fractionate yourself six times doubling the relaxation each time, then do the number block out loud until the numbers go. Skip the hand drop. Lifting one hand with the other means one of them isn't relaxed, so it tells you nothing.

Do I need to use convincers afterwards?

No. This induction has its testing built in. Your subject has passed the eyelid test, felt their hand splat down, and watched their own numbers disappear. They have had a real experience and they know they were in hypnosis.

Is it a problem that the Elman Induction is so directive?

Not at all, as long as you understand that is what it is. This is direct, authoritarian hypnosis. It is not conversational and it is not Ericksonian. You're not using unspecified verbs or anything fluffy. You are running the show from beginning to end, and the subject's compliance is precisely what makes it work. If you want the permissive approach, use a permissive induction, and know why you chose it.

Where does the Elman Induction fit alongside everything else?

It is the go-to direct induction, and it is the one I would tell you to keep if you could only keep one. From there you want range. We go deeper into direct hypnosis on episode 198 of the Brain Software podcast, into Elman's regression work on episode 190, and into the deepest states of all in our guide to creating the Esdaile state.