Various Articles

THE DEFINITION OF HYPNOTISM: Hypnotism is a condition of hyper-suggestibility where the consciousness and the subconscious mind disconnect. It is a state of mind where the subject is more likely to believe the Hypnotherapist's suggestions.

You have been in the state of hypnosis many times in the past without even recognizing the state. If you've ever seen a sad T.V. show and reacted with a tear in your eye, you have been in the hypnotic state. You entered a state of amplified suggestibility where you uncritically accepted the suggestion of unhappiness on the TV screen and reacted with a sad emotion, your tear. To put it into different words, your ability to reason, which is contained in your conscious mind, was bypassed. You did not reason that the show was just a play; you accepted the action as being real. So you reacted with real passion and shed a tear.

WHO CAN BE HYPNOTIZED? It has been discovered that all normal people are hypnotizable to a greater or lesser extent. Subjects with an I.Q. of less than 70 generally are not hypnotizable. People who are in an active state of psychosis usually can't be hypnotized. Senile people are usually impossible to hypnotize. I have found in my own private practice dealing with a large number of retired people as old as 85 years of age, that hypnosis is a powerful and beneficial method for many people. The person's motivation is the key to his or her success.

DO I HAVE TO BE A "DEEP" HYPNOTIC SUBJECT FOR SUCCESS? For the restorative applications of hypnosis that are generally dealt with in therapy, depth is not required. You can be the lightest possible subject and still receive all of the benefits from hypnosis that the deepest subjects will receive. I feel that over the years, far too much importance has been placed on how deep a subject can go. If the subject is deep, it can be of benefit. This however, is not necessarily the case. Actually, with the latest hypnotic methods like Ericksonian hypnosis and state of the art "NLP" (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), the depth of one's hypnotic state is one of the least imperative aspects, which contribute to a successful outcome.

ARE THERE ANY DANGERS IN HYPNOTISM? There are basically no dangers to the practice of hypnosis. It is not possible to "get stuck" in hypnosis. The most horrible thing that can happen while a subject is in the hypnotic state is that she might fall into a natural state of sleep for twenty or thirty minutes. She would awaken rested and out of the hypnotic state.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HYPNOSIS: There are many misconceptions about hypnosis. Most of the misconceptions can be attributed to stage and television acts. As luck would have it, it is because of the fact that the television can hypnotize you that these misconceptions are so well-established in people's minds.

IS HYPNOTISM SLEEP? The largest misconception about hypnosis is that it is sleep. Not anything could be further from the truth. If you are asleep, you are unconscious. If you are unconscious, you can't hear anything. If you can't hear anything, then the hypnotist can't help you. Hypnosis is a state of keen awareness. The subject is wide-awake and aware of everything around her. This misconception stems from the stage Hypnotist's use of the word "sleep" as akin to the hypnotic state. When the old time hypnotist swung the pocket watch in front of the subject's face, he told the subject that she was getting "sleepy." Then he told the subject to "go to sleep." What he meant was to go into a hypnotic sleep, not a natural sleep.

IS THERE A HYPNOTIZED FEELING? The second largest misconception is that there is a hypnotized feeling. There is no particular hypnotized feeling. I repeat there is no particular hypnotized feeling. Most people feel very relaxed when in self hypnosis, as relaxation seems to be the essence of hypnosis. Some people feel heavy. Some people feel light. Some people have other sensations and feelings. Other people have absolutely no feeling that they are in self-hypnosis, and believe they have not been hypnotized when they most definitely have.

CAN THE HYPNOTHERAPIST CONTROL ME? NO! A hypnotist can't force you to do anything against your will. There is always an observing ego state. Should the hypnotist make a suggestion that you find offensive; this observing ego state would reject that suggestion. Additionally, you will probably come out of the hypnotic state if the therapist makes an offensive suggestion.

CAN THE HYPNOTHERAPIST FORCE ME TO DIVULGE MY SECRETS? You won't reveal any secrets while in the state of hypnosis unless you want to do so. The hypnotherapist doesn't have any control over the subject. Quite the contrary, the subject has more control over herself since at this time she can directly communicate with her own subconscious mind. The subject can easily reject any suggestion the hypnotherapist makes, no matter how simple or complicated the suggestion might be. The subject can open her eyes, emerge from the state of self hypnosis, and walk out of the room at any time she chooses.

MUST PEOPLE TELL THE TRUTH WHEN IN SELF HYPNOSIS? NO! People can lie when in self-hypnosis.

DO HYPNOTHERAPISTS HAVE SUPERNATURAL VIBRATIONS? This is a common misconception. The hypnotherapist doesn't have any special powers, nor does he have any special vibrations with which to hypnotize you into the state of hypnosis. Actually, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The hypnotherapist leads the subject into a state of hypnosis. In other words, the ability of self hypnosis is within the subject.

WHY DO PEOPLE FAIL TO REACH THEIR GOALS USING HYPNOTISM? Perhaps the chief reason for the failure to reach one's goals through self-hypnosis is an insufficient amount of practice where self-hypnosis is concerned.

The greatest reason for the return of a symptom or "relapse" is the premature discontinuance of hypnosis with the Hypno-therapist or recorded program. While self-hypnosis is important, it is generally the hetero-hypnosis with the hypnotherapist or hypnosis recording which has the greatest impact upon the subconscious mind.

This is because of the training that the hypnotherapist has vs. the lack of training of the client. Some people are penny wise and pound-foolish. They mentally set an amount of time that they are willing to spend for help. And then they prematurely abate their sessions because; "I didn't lose 50 Lbs. in two days, so it isn't working."

If a therapeutic method is really helping one to make their desired changes, then it is invaluable and it should be sustained. It is for this reason that it is wise to have follow up hypnosis sessions, even after a symptom seems to have disappeared completely. Self-hypnosis should be an ongoing affair on a daily basis. Ultimately, YOUR SUCCESS IS UP TO YOU!

WILL I BE BETTER OFF HIRING A HYPNOTIST, OR WILL PURCHASING A RECORDED PROGRAM WORK BETTER? That is an excellent question. Normally I would recommend that you use the services of a reputable hypnotherapist. The reason is that by meeting with you, a good hypnotherapist / NLP'er will be able to customize his approach to your personality and your favored representational system -- the way you favor taking in information through your senses to make sense out of it and react to it.

In my opinion, ninety-nine percent of the recorded hypnosis CDs available at this time are strictly Traditional Hypnosis, and consist of only one or maybe two sessions of it at that. Traditional Hypnosis is nothing more than a set of direct post-hypnotic commands: "If you eat a brownie you'll vomit." "You will not have cravings," and so forth. This technology has a very poor track record of success because everyone of our generation has been trained to question everything. That's why you, your friends, and your kids usually do the opposite of what they are told to do. This is called a polarity response.

That being said, having personalized sessions with any hypnotherapist / NLP'er who has enough experience to be able to actually help you can cost a great deal of money. There are some hypnotic programs on the market that are based on Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that have overcome those shortcomings. They've managed this by using a mix of Traditional Hypnosis, Ericksonian Hypnosis, NLP, and the highly regarded Video Hypnosis technology.

These are all technologies that are designed to overcome the resistance factor. In fact, Video Hypnosis and the NLP technology that it's based on do not utilize post-hypnotic suggestions at all. These technologies rely on using the thought processes that have created a problem, to eliminate it!

Look for vendors who offer these methods in multi-session products. These are programs that generally have six to eight different sessions, so you are exposed to a broad variety of technologies. It takes a lot of work to make this type of program, but the high success rates achieved are well worth the work.

I recommend that you stay away from the "one size fits all" -- "do-or-die" hypnosis CDs and downloads. Many people are attracted to these CDs because they are cheap, usually under $10.00. But is it cheap if it just wastes your valuable time and doesn't work?

If you buy something and it doesn't work, then you get guarded and start to expect the next approach to fail. And you get what you expect. Do you really think that the same exact post-hypnotic commands will work for everyone? Do you think that they will work for you? Do you always do exactly as you are told? Or do you usually feel the strong desire to do the opposite of what you are told?

(c) 2007 By Alan B. Densky, CH. This document may be re-printed as long as it is not altered and the author's name and clickable links are retained.