Hypnotic Language Pattern
Double Bind

A double bind is a question where you give two choices both of which suit your purposes. It forces the listener to focus on only two choices when in fact there are many others, so it is basically an illusion of choice.

For example ‘Do you want to go into a hypnotic trance now or later?’. This implies that the trance is inevitable.

Another example from the retail trade is ‘Do you want to pay by cash or credit card?’. This presupposes the purchase and time shifts the listener into ‘I am buying, how should I pay’; not very ethical.

Of course you have to be reasonably subtle. If I was to say ‘Do you want me to hit you with the brick or the hammer?’ you would probably come up with a third option quite quickly.

Most double binds fall into one of the following three categories.