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Hypnosystemic Approaches During Contract Clarification in Conflict Experiences in Coaching and Mediation Processes
Coaching
Empowerment
Mediation
Hypnosystemics
August 21, 2025
The term “Hypnosystemic” was introduced in the 1980s by Dr. Gunther Schmidt, who as a systemic family therapist combined these elements with those of Ericksonian hypnotherapy (Schmidt, 2009). Gunther Schmidt studied personally under Milton Erickson. Hypnosystemic counseling draws heavily from Ericksonian hypnotherapy (Erickson, Rossi & Rossi, 1976).
From a hypnosystemic perspective, experience is created through attention focusing. For this reason, during contract clarification, it would ideally be beneficial for the coaching or mediation process to guide the client from the very beginning to focus on imagining the desired target experience (Schmidt, 2012).
During contract clarification, conflict experience usually feels so immediate and intense that clients often find it difficult to focus on the desired experience. Therefore, each contribution from the conflict participants is received by the accompanying person with an attitude that recognizes their valuable needs. Invitations from the coaching facilitator or mediator to focus on the desired experience are often perceived by conflict participants as ignorance or lack of appreciation. Therefore, it is of great importance, especially in the initial phase of the coaching or mediation process, to appropriately acknowledge and appreciate the conflict participants in their conflict experience (Schmidt, 2009).
From a hypnosystemic perspective, conflict experience arises from the discrepancy between the imagination/perception of an unfulfilled need and desire (longing goal) compared to the undesired current state. Similar to Freud’s structural model, the steering competence (Freud’s so-called “ego”) perceives this discrepancy as disturbing and wants to balance this disturbance (Freud, 1923/1991). The longing goal may not be conscious. The feeling of discrepancy between the unfulfilled wish/need and the current state shows that clients have an unconscious idea of when they subjectively feel “good.”
Interventions from a hypnosystemic perspective are ritual offers that stimulate everyday, involuntary processes to create a desired perception. From the changed perception, the client generates a behavioral change (Schmidt, 2012).
However, during contract clarification, in a phase of strong problem experience, an intervention with the question about the desired goal often cannot yet be answered. The question: “If this process (coaching, mediation) were to proceed in the very best sense, how would you notice it?” would probably not really be processed yet. Clients are hardly ready at this stage to put themselves into a state of the process result. Often they cannot yet manage to imagine the desired experience at the beginning of the process. It would be expected that clients would immediately step into their familiar problem experience (Schmidt, 2009).
Typical systemic questions like: “What is your problem?” have a problem-focusing and thus problem-catalyzing effect. Should problem focusing lead to clients remaining in mismatch-filter experience, increased empathetic pacing and going along is one of the most effective interventions. These should be alternated with appreciative emphasis on competencies. These competencies are shown precisely in the clients’ conflict experience (Schmidt, 2012).
The hypnosystemic view interprets undesired processes that lead to conflict experience as competent solution attempts. They are appreciated as the client’s independent achievement. This achievement intensifies the problem experience/conflict experience: (e.g., whoever wants to “eliminate” problem experience focuses on the problem and intensifies it. In coaching, defensive behavior such as intimidating or attacking the conflict partner leads to conflict escalation). From a hypnosystemic perspective, it is less the content of the problem experience that is decisive, but rather the relationship that the respective conflict participants establish with the content, from which the conflict participants then generate the corresponding behavior (Schmidt, 2009).
Since the meaning of a message always lies with the receiver, the clients/conflict participants determine whether they are ready at the moment to engage with the corresponding intervention offers. The interventions may be well-intentioned, but whether they are good is always determined by the receiver (Watzlawick, Beavin & Jackson, 1969).
In Conclusion:
Hypnosystemic approaches balance in contract clarification between empathetic appreciation of conflict experience and a careful invitation to goal imagination. A premature focus on the desired experience is usually not yet perceived by the conflict parties. The focus on problem experience is usually still too strong; well-intentioned (but not good) offers that focus on target experience quickly lead to overwhelm. In contrast, appreciative pacing and looking at resources in problem experience prepare the ground for change. Interventions are empathetically adapted to the clients’ receptiveness (pacing). This opens up a process in which conflicts can be used as access to resources and development potential.
References:
Erickson, M. H., Rossi, E. L., & Rossi, S. I. (1976). Hypnotic realities: The induction of clinical hypnosis and forms of indirect suggestion. New York: Irvington.
Freud, S. (1923/1991). Das Ich und das Es. In Studienausgabe Bd. III. Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer.
Schmidt, G. (2009). Hypnosystemische Konzepte für Therapie, Empowering und Beratung: Kontexte, Konzepte, Vorgehensweisen. Heidelberg: Carl-Auer.
Schmidt, G. (2012). Liebesaffären zwischen Problem und Lösung: Hypnosystemisches Arbeiten in schwierigen Kontexten. Heidelberg: Carl-Auer.
Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J. H., & Jackson, D. D. (1969). Pragmatics of human communication: A study of interactional patterns, pathologies, and paradoxes. New York: Norton.
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