“Now close your eyes, take a deep breath, and relax.” Lindsay let Sophie’s voice wash over her. Her tone was warm, her voice even. “Imagine you’re on a tropical beach. It’s just before daybreak, and you can still see the stars in the dark blue sky. You can hear the gentle sounds of the waves lapping the shore and the distant cries of the sea-gulls. Picture the scene as the sun starts to rise, turning the sky pink. The stars slowly fade, and you can see the palm trees waving in the soft breeze. You’re relaxing here on the beach, as the sky turns from pink to gold, and the first rays of the sun start to warm your body.

“Now, while you’re enjoying the new day, I want you to relax. Starting with your toes, let those muscles go, and relax.” Her voice fell on the final word, and she paused momentarily. “Now your feet and ankles, release all the tension and relax.” Pause. “Move on up into your lower leg, and let those muscles go, and relax.”

Sophie continued, working up Lindsay’s body, but she was only half-way through the initial induction when a change in Lindsay’s breathing pattern signalled she had already slipped over into an altered state of consciousness. Sophie continued with the relaxation, then said, “I’m going to count backwards from five, and with every number, you will go deeper and deeper, deeper and deeper. Five, four, three, two, one, zero, zero, zero.”

Lindsay’s body became even more limp. Sophie did a few reflex tests to make sure Lindsay really was as deeply under as she thought, then she began to work. “I want you to imagine you’re in a video library. In this video library, there are shelves of tapes, and they’re all videos of your life. What you’re going to do now is choose a video to watch tonight. I want you to find the tape from last night. I want you to take down the video that has the Scots-Irish night on it. Have you got that tape in your hand?”

Lindsay grunted.

“Okay,” Sophie continued in a soft, measured monotone. “I want you to put that tape in the video and press play. Now, I want you to tell me what you can see.”

“Can see the band playing, in front of me. I’ve got a bottle of White Horse.” Lindsay sounded defiantly proud of herself. Her voice was slightly blurred, as if she were half-asleep or half-drunk.

“What can you hear?”