Suppose you could become your favorite creative leader. What would it feel like to think their thoughts, see through their eyes, and speak with their voice? What new ideas and insights might emerge if you could fully embody their creative brilliance — not just in imagination, but in an altered, heightened state of awareness?
In this article, I invite you to explore Deep Trance Identification (DTI), a powerful advanced creativity technique that allows you to “become” your creative role model — and unlock insights that can reshape how you lead, think, and innovate.
Why This Matters Now: Creativity in the Age of AI
As the Sixth Wave of technological innovation unfolds, AI is increasingly influencing every aspect of business — including creativity.
On one hand, AI can augment creativity at a conscious level. It helps us brainstorm faster, gather idea stimuli, and expand our option space. But true creative breakthroughs often emerge from subconscious and superconscious levels — realms AI cannot reach. That’s why it’s more important than ever for human creators to develop advanced mindsets and tools that access these deeper layers of the mind.
Enter Deep Trance Identification — a technique designed to do just that.
What Is Deep Trance Identification?
Originally developed in advanced hypnotherapy and modeled by experts like Milton Erickson and Paul McKenna, Deep Trance Identification is a process in which a person is guided into a hypnotic trance and temporarily becomes someone they admire.
This could be a creative genius like Leonardo da Vinci, a prolific inventor like Thomas Edison, or even a personal mentor. In the trance, participants model not only the figure’s behaviors but also their mindset, values, energy, and even voice. When the subject opens their eyes, they continue embodying their “genius mentor” and respond to questions from that adopted identity.
It’s like method acting meets creativity and personal transformation — a shortcut to new insights, confidence, and ideas.
Case in Point: Becoming Leonardo da Vinci
In a recent Creative Leadership class at Bangkok University’s MBA-i program, which is based on my Genius Journey method, I invited my students to try this advanced technique. One brave student chose Leonardo da Vinci as his role model.
In the DTI session, after I guided him into a deep, relaxed trance, he visualized Leonardo in rich detail and stepped fully into his persona. When he opened his eyes, something had shifted: his posture, voice, and energy were all different. Known for being nervous when presenting, he now spoke with poise and insight, as if channelling da Vinci himself.
In his assumed identity of Leonardo da Vinci, he shared profound thoughts on sustainability, creative curiosity, and global problems — impressing not just me, but his peers.
Now, guess what happened a few weeks later? This same student used his newfound confidence to ace a scholarship interview for a prestigious American university.
Was it the trance? Was it Leonardo? Or was it a deeper part of himself that awakened during that exercise? We now know it made a real impact — and in Part 2, he shares exactly how this experience helped him transform and shine.
(Curious to hear the story in his own words? Don’t miss the follow-up article in two weeks that captures his full transformation.)
The Process: From Trance to Transformation
Here’s a simplified flow of how DTI works:
- Trance Induction and Deepening: The participant is guided into deep relaxation.
- Role Model Visualization: They recall everything they know about their chosen genius: habits, gestures, beliefs, speech, values.
- Identity Stepping: They “step into” this figure, adopting their posture, breath, and mindset.
- Embodied Exploration: With eyes open, they interact with the world as their role model, answering questions and sharing viewpoints and ideas from that identity.
- Return & Reflection: They are gently brought back, retaining insights, confidence, and skills.
As Paul McKenna says, “Deep Trance Identification is more than role model stepping; it's becoming that person, letting go of your own identity, for insight.”
Why It Works
DTI taps into the unconscious learning systems we used as children — when we modeled parents and teachers without judgment. It bypasses the conscious mind’s filters and allows us to “download” traits, beliefs, and perspectives we desire.
It also enables radical mindset shifts, especially for those who feel stuck, insecure, or creatively blocked.
And unlike surface-level affirmations, DTI brings those qualities into the body — through voice, posture, and energy — making the change more embodied and lasting.
A Tool for Creative Leaders
As Thinkergy continues to pioneer advanced creativity, I see Deep Trance Identification as a valuable addition to our Genius Journey toolbox. It’s a powerful way for leaders to:
- explore new perspectives
- connect the dots between their thinking and that of a creative icon
- unlock dormant talents
- and channel the energy of those who inspire them
Whether you want to innovate like Steve Jobs, empathize like Nelson Mandela, float like Muhammad Ali, or invent like da Vinci — DTI offers a portal into that genius.
Are You Ready to Meet Your Inner Genius?
Have you become curious about how to experience Deep Trance Identification for yourself, or explore other advanced creativity tools from Thinkergy?
- Check out our Genius Journey Booklet and the Genius Journey website.
- Creative leadership and the Genius Journey method is also featured in Chapter 7 of my new book: Unleashing WOW: The Creative Leader’s Guide to Breakthrough Innovation.
- Or are you ready to experience the transformational power of the Genius Journey for real? Travel the Genius Journey yourself in one of our training programs. Contact us so we can design the perfect Genius Journey format that fits your team's and company's needs, time, and budget.
© Dr. Detlef Reis 2025. In the coming weeks, the article will be co-published in the Bangkok Post.