Self-Hypnosis -- The Simple Facts Revealed

THE DEFINITION OF SELF-HYPNOSIS:
Hypnosis is a state of hyper-suggestibility where the conscious mind and the unconscious mind dissociate. It is an altered state of consciousness where the subject is more likely to acknowledge the Hypno-technician's suggestions.

You have been in the state of hypnosis many times without even recognizing the state. Hypnosis is the Alpha state of consciousness that we pass through every night as we fall asleep. And we pass through it again as we awaken in the morning.

WHO CAN BE HYPNOTIZED?
Hypnotists have discovered that all normal people are hypnotizable to a greater or lesser extent. Subjects with an I.Q. of under 70 generally are not able to be hypnotized. People who are actively psychotic usually are not hypnotizable. Most senile people are impossible to hypnotize.

DO I HAVE TO BE A "DEEP" HYPNOTIC SUBJECT FOR SUCCESS?
For the beneficial applications of self-hypnosis we most often deal with, hypnotic depth is not required. One can be the lightest possible subject and still obtain all of the benefits from self-hypnosis that the deepest subjects will receive. I 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 of benefit. This however, is not necessarily the case. In fact, 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 SELF-HYPNOSIS?
There are essentially no dangers to the practice of self-hypnosis. It is impossible to "get stuck" in self-hypnosis. The most horrible thing that can happen while a subject is in self-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 the hypnotic state.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HYPNOTISM:
There are many misnomers about self-hypnosis. Most of the misnomers can be attributed to stage and television acts. As luck would have it, it's because of the fact that the television 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 self-hypnosis is that it's the state of sleep. Not anything 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 hypnotherapist cannot help you. Hypnosis is a state of keen awareness. The subject is wide-awake and aware of everything around her.

IS THERE A HYPNOTIZED FEELING?
The second largest misconception about hypnosis is that there is a hypnotized feeling. There is no hypnotized feeling. Most people feel very relaxed when in the hypnotic state, as relaxation seems to be the essence of the state 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 the state of hypnosis, and believe they have not been hypnotized when they most definitely have.

CAN THE HYPNOTHERAPIST TAKE CONTROL OF ME?
NO! The hypnotherapist cannot force you to do anything against your will. There is always an observing ego state. Should the therapist make a suggestion that you find offensive; this ego state would reject the suggestion.

CAN THE HYPNOTHERAPIST FORCE ME TO DIVULGE MY SECRETS?
You will not reveal any secrets while in the hypnotic state unless you want to. The therapist does not 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 refuse any suggestion the therapist 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 exit the room at any time she chooses.

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

DO HYPNOTHERAPISTS HAVE SUPER NATURAL VIBRATIONS?
This is a common misnomer. The therapist does not 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 therapist 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 WHEN USING SELF-HYPNOSIS?
Perhaps the chief reason for the inability to reach one's goals through self-hypnosis is an insufficient amount of practice where self-hypnosis is concerned.

The most common reason for the return of a symptom or "relapse" is the early discontinuance of self-hypnosis with the Hypnotherapist 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 and experience that the therapist has vs. the lack of training and 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 abate their sessions because; "I didn't lose 50 Lbs. in two days, so it isn't working." 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 great 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 the senses to make sense out of it and react to it.

In my opinion, 99% of the pre-recorded hypnosis CDs available today are strictly 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 will throw up." "You will not have urges," etc.. This technology has a very poor track record of success because the people in our generation have been educated 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 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 that are based on Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that have overcome those shortcomings. They've accomplished this by utilizing a mix of NLP, Traditional Hypnosis, Ericksonian Hypnosis, and the highly regarded Video Hypnosis technology.

These are all modalities that are designed to do away with 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 technologies in multi-session products. These are programs that generally have six to eight different hypnosis sessions, so you are exposed to a broad variety 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 lured in by these recordings because they are inexpensive, usually under ten dollars. But is it cheap if it just wastes your valuable time and doesn't work?

If you buy a program 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 suggestions will work for everyone? Do you think that they will work for you? Do you typically do exactly as you are told to do? Or do you feel the desire to do the opposite of what you are told to do?