THE DEFINITION OF HYPNOTISM: Hypnotism is a condition of hyper-suggestibility where the conscious mind and the unconscious mind dissociate. It is a state of consciousness where the subject is more likely to acknowledge the Hypno-technician's suggestions.

You have been in hypnosis many times without even recognizing the state. If you have ever seen a sad T.V. show and reacted with a tear in your eye, you have been hypnotized. You entered a state of increased suggestibility where you uncritically accepted the idea of grief on the TV screen and reacted with a sad emotion, your tear. In other words, your reasoning ability, which is controlled by 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. Subjects with less than a 70 I.Q. generally are not hypnotizable. People who are actively psychotic normally are not hypnotizable. Senile people are generally difficult or 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 self-hypnosis is a powerful and beneficial technique for many people. A person's personal motivation is the key to his or her success.

DO I HAVE TO BE A "DEEP" HYPNOTIC SUBJECT FOR SUCCESS? For the beneficial applications of self-hypnosis we most often deal with, depth isn't required. You can be the lightest possible subject and still obtain all of the benefits from self-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 client is deep, it could be beneficial. This however, may not necessarily be the case. Actually, with the latest hypnotic techniques like Ericksonian self-hypnosis and state of the art "NLP" (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), the depth of the hypnotic state is one of the least essential aspects, which contribute to success.

ARE THERE ANY DANGERS IN HYPNOTISM? There are basically no dangers to the practice of self-hypnosis. It is impossible to "get stuck" in self-hypnosis. The most terrible thing that could happen while a client is in hypnosis is that she might fall into a natural state of sleep for twenty or thirty minutes. She would wake up rested and out of a state of self hypnosis.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SELF-HYPNOSIS: There are many misnomers about self-hypnosis. Most of the misnomers are due to stage and television acts. Paradoxically, it's because of the fact that the television can hypnotize you that these misnomers are so well-established in people's minds.

IS HYPNOTISM SLEEP? The largest misconception about self-hypnosis 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 cannot hear anything. If you cannot hear anything, then the hypnotist cannot 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 a 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 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 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 CONTROL ME? NO! The hypnotist cannot force you to do anything against your will. There is always an observing ego state. Should the therapist make an offensive suggestion; this ego state would reject the suggestion. Additionally, you will probably come out of self hypnosis if the hypnotist makes an offensive suggestion to you.

CAN THE HYPNOTHERAPIST MAKE ME DIVULGE ANY OF MY SECRETS? You will not give away any secrets while in self hypnosis unless you want to. The hypnotist 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 hypnotist makes, no matter how simple or complicated the suggestion might be. The subject can open her eyes, exit from the state of self hypnosis, and exit the room at any time she chooses.

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

DO HYPNOTHERAPISTS HAVE SUPERNATURAL POWERS? This is a common misnomer. The hypnotist 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 hypnotist leads the subject into a state of hypnotism. In other words, the ability of self hypnosis is within the subject.

WHY DO PEOPLE FAIL TO REACH THEIR GOALS USING HYPNOTISM? Perhaps the principal reason for the inability to reach one's goals through self-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 hypnotist or hypnosis recording which has the greatest impact upon the unconscious mind.

This is because of the experience that the hypnotist has vs. the lack of experience 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 positive changes, then it is priceless and it should be continued. For this reason 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 use the services of a reputable hypnotist. The reason is that by meeting with you, a good hypnotist / 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, 99% of the pre-recorded self-hypnosis 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 suggestions: "If you eat a brownie you will throw up." "You will not have cravings and urges," etc.. This technology has an exceptionally poor track record of success because the people in our generation have been educated 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 sessions with any hypnotist / 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 available on the Internet that are based on Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that have overcome those shortcomings. They've accomplished this by using a mix of NLP, Traditional Hypnosis, Ericksonian Hypnosis, And the highly regarded Video Hypnosis technology.

These are all modalities that are designed to eliminate the resistance factor. In fact, Video Hypnosis and the NLP technology that it's based on do not utilize post-hypnotic suggestions 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 or NLP 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.

Stay away from the "one size fits all" -- "do-or-die" self-hypnosis CDs and downloads. Many are attracted to these recordings because they are very cheap, usually under $10.00. But is it cheap if it just wastes your valuable time and does not work?

If you try something and it does not 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 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 feel a 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.