FAQ

Anyone who can pay attention and follow instructions can be hypnotized if they want to be. People will vary however, as to the extent or depth to which they can be hypnotized.

Persons who are clinically insane are typically out of touch with reality and have difficulty concentrating. The ability to sustain concentration and the ability to follow instructions are necessary prerequisites to being able to be hypnotized. Thus, clinically insane persons can be very difficult subjects. Nevertheless, there are clinical practitioners who specialize in working therapeutically with this population, and some of these practitioners do have the training to use the hypnosis tool effectively and therapeutically in selected cases.

People can be hypnotized at any age. However, on the average, the years between 12 and 20 are a developmental stage when pre-adolescents, adolescents, and young adults are most fantasy prone and capable of employing that trait to benefit from hypnosis. Nevertheless, children can be helped to solve their problems with the tool of hypnosis as can middle aged and older people.

No. A person can resist going into Hypnosis or being hypnotized anytime he or she desires, regardless of how many times he has been hypnotized.

Hypnosis is NOT about ZAP you are under my power like Svengali. Hypnosis is a collaborative and cooperative teacher-student relationship. Hypnosis is NOT sleep. When a person is in hypnosis, he is relaxed and aware of his surroundings. He hears the sound of the therapist’s voice and will remember more or less of what the therapist says.

The hypnotized subject or patient is NOT asleep. He is relaxed, comfortable, focused, and in a state of daydream type thinking. His analyzing thinking mind (Conscious mind) is turned off and his feeling and intuitive and creative mind (Subconscious) is aware of everything that is going on. A hypnotized subject cannot be made to do anything he is not willing to do. A person must be a willing and cooperative subject for hypnosis to work.

No. Hypnosis is not a master-slave relationship or a power relationship. It is not about “zap, you are under my power!” like Svengali type stuff. Hypnosis is a cooperative and collaborative relationship. The subject retains full control and responsibility for his or her actions at all times. This myth comes from old movies and novels such as the old novel “Trilby”.

No. This is not what happens in Therapeutic or Clinical Hypnosis. On the other hand, volunteers during Stage Hypnosis Show, which is for entertainment purposes only, will typically go along with the Stage Hypnotist’s suggestions as long as it is all in good fun and for entertainment purposes. This is not the context of Clinical Hypnosis.

No. Hypnosis is not a truth serum. You retain full control over what you say. Subjects in Hypnosis reveal no secrets in the Hypnotic State that they would not reveal (because they want to) in the Waking State.
Hypnosis CANNOT be used to find the truth, or make a person tell the truth. Hypnosis is NOT a truth serum. First of all, the hypnotized subject retains enough awareness and control to NOT say anything that he doesn’t want to make known, or isn’t ready to make known. Secondly, human memory is inherently inaccurate and unreliable both in and out of hypnosis (Brown, Scheflin, & Hammond, 1997). Hypnosis can help a willing patient get deeper in touch with his deepest and most heartfelt feelings. But feelings are NOT facts. Recollections that come to mind in hypnosis are colored by the patient’s feelings. We use hypnosis to find the truth about how the patient feels about something, NOT the truth about what really happened. The hypnotist or therapist CANNOT make the patient find out, or talk about, how he feels about something, unless the patient feels comfortable and totally safe, and is ready.

No it is not possible. You cannot get stuck in Hypnosis because you do not lose control when you are hypnotized. Hypnosis is a cooperative relationship. When you are hypnotized, you retain full control over your mind and your body. Sometimes, people feel so relaxed and comfortable in Hypnosis that they may wish to remain in that state for a little longer. However, a simple suggestion for awakening (or alerting) is all that is needed to bring a subject back into the Waking State even if the subject has fallen asleep. Additionally, when the hypnotist stops talking, the subject will soon awaken on his own. Most importantly, you can come out of hypnosis any time you want.

No. When a person is in Hypnosis, he is not asleep. He or she is very much aware of all that is going on. In actuality, in Hypnosis, one’s senses become heightened and more acute. Of course, if a person is tired, it is possible to fall asleep during hypnosis. However, then, the subject is asleep and no longer in hypnosis. In actuality, when this occurs, the state of sleep is a light but relaxing state of sleep. A simple suggestion to wake up given by the hypnotist is all that is required to rouse up the subject.

Hypnosis does NOT weaken the mind. On the contrary, it helps people use more of their mind’s potential. It helps people access their inner strength. The subconscious mind is protective. Hypnotized people will accept suggestions that are acceptable, and reject suggestions that are not acceptable. Suggestions must be worded in a form and language that the patient’s subconscious can understand.

No. Strength of mind really has little to do with it. Either a weak-minded or strong minded person who resists will make a poor hypnotic subject. On the other hand, a weak or strong-minded person who cooperates will be a good subject. However, because Hypnosis helps a person gain greater control over both mind and body, it can help a person develop a stronger mind.

People who are hypnotized will not do anything in Hypnosis that they would not do in the waking state. This applies as well to sexual acts. Hypnosis is not a master-slave relationship. When you are in hypnosis, you are aware of everything that is going on and you continue to retain your values and morals.

No. You cannot be hypnotized against your will. You must be a willing subject. Your hypnotist must have your full cooperation.

It is a pleasant, voluntary, state of relaxed attentive concentration, an altered state of consciousness, during which the conscious critical mind is relaxed and relatively inactive, and the doorway to the subconscious, inner mind is opened with a person’s permission. In this comfortable state, suggestibility is heightened, mental absorption is increased, the senses are heightened, and the imagination is activated in a controlled manner. The inner mind is more receptive to acceptable, beneficial suggestions.