THE DEFINITION OF SELF-HYPNOSIS: Self-Hypnosis is a condition of hyper-suggestibility where the conscious and the subconscious mind dissociate. It is an altered state of consciousness where the hypnotized client is more likely to accept the Hypnotist’s suggestions.
You have been in the hypnotic state many times in the past without even realizing it. If you’ve ever seen a sad television show and reacted with a tear in your eye, you have been in the hypnotic state. You entered a state of increased suggestibility where you uncritically accepted the idea of misery on the TV screen and reacted with a sad emotion, your tear. In other words, your reasoning ability, which is contained in your conscious mind, was bypassed. You did not reason that the show was just a play; you accepted the drama as being authentic. So you reacted with real emotion and shed a tear.
WHO CAN BE HYPNOTIZED? Hypnotists have discovered that all normal people are hypnotizable to a greater or lesser extent. People with an I.Q. of less than 70 generally can’t be hypnotized. People who are actively psychotic normally can’t be hypnotized. Senile people are usually impossible to hypnotize. I have found in my own professional practice dealing with a large number of retired people as old as 85 years of age, that hypnotherapy is a potent and beneficial process for most people. The person’s personal motivation is the key to his or her success.
DO I HAVE TO BE A “DEEP” HYPNOTIC SUBJECT TO BE SUCCESSFUL? For the curative applications of hypnotherapy we most often deal with, hypnotic depth of any kind isn’t required. You can be the lightest possible subject and still receive all of the benefits from hypnotherapy that the deepest subjects will obtain. I believe that over the years, far too much importance has been placed on how deep a subject can go. If the subject is deep, it could be beneficial. This however, may not necessarily be the case. In fact, with the latest hypnotic techniques like Ericksonian hypnotherapy and state of the art “NLP” (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), depth is one of the least imperative aspects, which create a successful outcome.
ARE THERE ANY DANGERS IN SELF-HYPNOSIS? There are basically no dangers to the practice of hypnotherapy. It is not possible to “get stuck” in hypnotherapy. The most terrible thing that could happen while a subject is in hypnosis is that she might fall into a natural state of sleep for 20 or 30 minutes. She would wake up rested and no longer in the hypnotic state.
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SELF-HYPNOSIS: There are many misnomers about hypnotherapy. Most of them are due to stage and TV shows. As luck would have it, it’s because of the fact that the TV can hypnotize you that these misnomers are so well-established in people’s minds.
IS SELF-HYPNOSIS A STATE OF SLEEP? The largest misconception about hypnotherapy is that it’s a state of sleep. Nothing 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 equivalent to a state of hypnosis. When the old time hypnotist swung the watch in front of the subject’s face, he told the subject that she was getting “sleepy.” He then 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 specific hypnotized feeling. I repeat there is no specific hypnotized feeling. Most people feel very relaxed when in hypnosis, as relaxation seems to be the essence of hypnotism. 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 haven’t been hypnotized when they most definitely have.
CAN THE HYPNOTHERAPIST TAKE CONTROL OF ME? NO! A hypnotist can’t make you do anything against your will. There is always an observing ego state. Should the therapist make a suggestion that is offensive to you; this observing ego state would reject the suggestion. Additionally, you will probably come out of the hypnotic state if the hypnotherapist makes an offensive suggestion.
CAN THE HYPNOTIST FORCE ME TO DIVULGE MY SECRETS? You will not give up any secrets while in the hypnotic state unless you want to. 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 decline 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 POWERS AND VIBRATIONS? This is a common misnomer. The hypnotherapist doesn’t have any special powers, nor does he have any special vibrations with which to propel you into the state of hypnosis. In reality, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The hypnotherapist leads the subject into a state of self hypnosis. In other words, the ability of self-hypnosis is within the subject.
WHY DO PEOPLE FAIL TO REACH THEIR GOALS USING SELF-HYPNOSIS? Perhaps the largest reason for the failure to reach one’s goals through hypnosis is an insufficient amount of practice where self-hypnosis is concerned.
The largest reason for the return of a symptom or “relapse” is the early discontinuance of hypnotherapy 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 experience that the hypnotherapist has vs. the lack of experience 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 stop 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 positive changes, then it is priceless and it should be continued. It is for this reason that it is wise to have follow up self-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 utilize 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 self-hypnosis CDs available today are based on Traditional Hypnosis, and are made up of only one or maybe two sessions of it at that. Traditional Hypnosis is nothing more than a set of direct post-hypnotic suggestions: “If you eat a brownie you’ll vomit.” “You won’t have cravings,” and so forth. This technology has a very poor track record of success because the people in our generation have been taught to question everything they are told. 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 sessions with any hypnotherapist / NLP’er who has enough experience to be able to actually help you can be very expensive. There are some hypnotic programs available on the Internet 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 suggestion at all. These methods 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 hypnosis sessions, so you are exposed to a broad range of techniques. It takes a lot of work to script and record this type of program, but the high success rates achieved are well worth the effort.
I recommend that you stay away from the “one size fits all” — “do-or-die” hypnotherapy 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 order something and it doesn’t work, then you get mistrustful 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 suggestions will work for everyone? Do you think that they will work for you? Do you generally do exactly as you are told? Or do you usually feel a 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.
Alan B. Densky, CH has practiced since 1978 He’s authored four books on hypnotherapy and NLP. He is the inventor of the Video Self Hypnosis Technology, which was perfected for weight loss & smoking control. Visit his Neuro-VISION Hypnosis website for FREE Hypnosis newsletters, articles, & MP3s.
- Alan B. Densky, CH
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