Celebrity Deep Trance Identification

DTI or Deep Trance Identification is a way of assuming the skills and emotional resources of another person, a role model or expert in the field to be mastered. Stephen Gilligan used DTI with Milton Erickson to increase his hypnosis expertise.
We sometimes get into arguments with people who question the scientific basis of DTI. After all, we don’t know of any research specifically aimed at the benefits of DTI written in English. Most of the research is of course in Russian as deep trance identification was developed by the Russian hypnosis researcher Alexander Raikov. While some of his papers are available in English most of his work is only available in Russian.
So it’s always great to see some independent research that at least supports DTI as a learning strategy. In this case students with low self esteem were asked to associate with their favorite celebrities, who were generally similar to their ideal selves. Asa result they became more like their own ideal self. And this was without the added benefit of trance…
…low self-esteem undergraduate psychology students at a public university in the United States felt closest to celebrities who were similar to their ideal self… low self-esteem college students primed with their favorite celebrity became more similar to their ideal selves. Via onlinelibrary.wiley.com