THE DEFINITION OF HYPNOTISM: Self Hypnosis is a state of hyper-suggestibility where the consciousness and the unconscious mind disconnect. It is a state of consciousness where the subject is more likely to agree to the operator’s suggestions.
You have been in hypnosis many times in your life without even recognizing the state. If you have ever seen a sad television show and reacted with a tear in your eye, you have been in a state of hypnosis. You entered a state of increased suggestibility where you uncritically accepted the suggestion of grief 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 genuine. So you reacted with real emotion and shed a tear.
WHO CAN BE HYPNOTIZED? Hypnotists have found that all normal people are hypnotizable to a greater or lesser extent. People with the I.Q. of the moron level of intelligence or less generally are not hypnotizable. People who are actively psychotic generally are not hypnotizable. Most senile people are difficult to hypnotize. I have found in my own hypnosis practice dealing with a large number of retired people as old as 85 years of age, that self-hypnosis is a powerful and beneficial process for most people. A 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 self-hypnosis we most often deal with, hypnotic depth of any kind isn’t required. One can be the lightest possible subject and still receive all of the benefits from self-hypnosis that the deepest subjects will receive. I strongly believe that over the years, far too much importance has been placed on how deep a subject is. If the client is deep, it can be beneficial. This however, is not necessarily the case. In reality, with the latest hypnotic methods like Ericksonian self-hypnosis and state of the art “NLP” (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), depth is one of the least important aspects, which create success.
ARE THERE ANY DANGERS IN HYPNOTISM? There are on the whole no dangers to the practice of self-hypnosis. It is not possible to “get stuck” in self-hypnosis. The most awful thing that can happen while a client is in self-hypnosis is that she might fall into a natural state of sleep for twenty or thirty minutes. She would awaken rested and out of a state of hypnosis.
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SELF-HYPNOSIS: There are many misconceptions about self-hypnosis. Most of the misconceptions can be attributed to stage and TV acts. Ironically, it’s on account of the fact that the TV can hypnotize you that these misconceptions are so strongly ingrained in people’s minds.
IS HYPNOTISM SLEEP? The largest misconception about self-hypnosis is that it’s the 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 hypnotherapist can’t help you. Hypnosis is a state of keen awareness. The subject is wide-awake and aware of everything around her. This misconception comes from the stage Hypnotist’s use of the word “sleep” as analogous to a state of hypnosis. When the old time hypnotist swung a watch in front of his subject’s face, he told his subject that she was getting “sleepy.” Then he told his 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 about self-hypnosis 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 self-hypnosis, as relaxation seems to be the essence of self-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 HYPNOTIST TAKE CONTROL OF ME? NO! The hypnotherapist can’t make you do anything against your will. There is always an observing ego state. Should the hypnotist make a suggestion that is offensive to you; this observing ego state would reject that suggestion. Additionally, you will probably come out of self hypnosis if the hypnotist makes an offensive suggestion to you.
CAN THE HYPNOTIST MAKE ME DIVULGE MY SECRETS? You won’t reveal any secrets while in the hypnotic state unless you want to do so. The therapist 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 unconscious mind. The subject can easily decline any suggestion the therapist makes, no matter how simple or complicated the suggestion might be. The subject can open her eyes, exit from the state of hypnosis, and exit the room at any time she chooses.
MUST PEOPLE TELL THE TRUTH WHEN IN HYPNOSIS? NO! People can lie when in hypnosis.
DO HYPNOTISTS HAVE SUPERNATURAL POWERS AND VIBRATIONS? This is a common misnomer. The therapist doesn’t have any special powers, nor does he have any special vibrations with which to propel you into the hypnotic state. Actually, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The therapist leads the subject into a state of hypnosis. In other words, the ability of hypnosis is within the subject.
WHY DO PEOPLE FAIL TO REACH THEIR GOALS USING HYPNOTISM? Perhaps the biggest reason for the failure to reach one’s goals through hypnosis is an inadequate amount of practice where self-hypnosis is concerned.
The greatest reason for the return of a symptom or “relapse” is the early discontinuance of self-hypnosis with the Hypno-therapist or recorded program. While self-hypnosis is important, it is generally the hetero-hypnosis with the therapist or hypnosis recording which has the greatest impact upon the unconscious mind.
This is because of the training that the therapist has vs. the lack of training of the client. Some people are penny wise and pound-foolish. They mentally set an amount of money that they are willing to spend for help. And then they prematurely cut off 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 priceless and it should be continued. It is for this reason that it is wise to have follow up hypnotherapy 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 a wonderful question. Normally I would recommend that you employ the services of a reputable therapist. The reason is that by meeting with you, a good therapist / 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 pre-recorded hypnotherapy CDs available today are based on 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 suggestions: “If you eat a brownie you’ll throw up.” “You will not have urges,” etc.. This technology has an unbelievably poor track record of success because everyone of our generation has been taught 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 private sessions with any therapist / 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 based on Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that have overcome those shortcomings. They’ve accomplished this by utilizing a mix of Traditional Hypnosis, Ericksonian Hypnosis, NLP, and the highly regarded Video Hypnosis technology.
These are all technologies that are designed to eliminate the resistance factor. In fact, Video Hypnosis and the NLP technology that it’s based on do not utilize suggestion at all. They rely on using the thought processes that have created a problem, to eliminate it!
Look for vendors who offer these methodologies in multi-session products. These are programs that generally have six to eight different hypnosis sessions, so the subject is exposed to a broad range of techniques. 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” self-hypnosis CDs and downloads. Many are attracted to these tapes because they are cheap, usually under ten dollars. But is it cheap if it just wastes your valuable time and doesn’t work?
If you try a program and it doesn’t work, then you get distrustful 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 always do exactly as you are told to do? Or do you generally feel the desire to do the opposite of what you are told to do?
(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 is certified by the NGH He’s authored four books on hypnosis and NLP. He is the developer of the Video Self Hypnosis Technology, which is perfected for smoke cessation & weight loss. Visit his Neuro-VISION Hypnosis site for FREE Hypnosis MP3s, articles, & newsletters.
- Alan B. Densky, CH
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