THE DEFINITION OF HYPNOTISM: Self-Hypnosis is a state of hyper-suggestibility where the consciousness and the subconscious mind disconnect. It is an altered state of mind where the subject is more likely to accept the Hypno-technician's suggestions.

You have been hypnotized many times in your life without even recognizing the state. 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 suggestion of gloom on the TV screen and reacted with a sad emotion, your tear. To put it into different 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 action as being authentic. So you reacted with real emotion and shed a tear.

WHO CAN BE HYPNOTIZED? It has been found that all normal people are hypnotizable to a greater or lesser extent. People with an I.Q. of under 70 generally are not hypnotizable. People who are in an active state of psychosis normally cannot be hypnotized. Senile people are by and large impossible to hypnotize. I have found in my own private practice dealing with a large number of retired people up to 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 success.

DO I HAVE TO BE A "DEEP" SUBJECT TO BE SUCCESSFUL? For the healing 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 obtain. I strongly 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 can be of benefit. This however, is not necessarily the case. In fact, with the latest hypnotic techniques like Ericksonian self hypnosis and state of the art "NLP" (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), hypnotic depth is one of the least important aspects, which contribute to success.

ARE THERE ANY DANGERS IN HYPNOTISM? There are basically no dangers to the practice of self hypnosis. It is not possible to "get stuck" in self hypnosis. The most terrible thing that can happen while a patient is in the hypnotic state is that she might fall into a natural state of sleep for twenty or thirty minutes. She would awaken rested and no longer in the state of self hypnosis.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SELF-HYPNOSIS: There are many misconceptions about self hypnosis. Most of them are due to stage and TV shows. As luck would have it, it is on account of the fact that the TV can hypnotize you that these misconceptions are so strongly ingrained in people's minds.

IS HYPNOTISM A STATE OF SLEEP? The largest misconception about self hypnosis is that it is 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 a state of hypnosis. When the old time hypnotist swung the pocket 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 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 a hypnotic state, 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 hypnosis, and believe they haven't been hypnotized when they most definitely have.

CAN THE HYPNOTIST TAKE CONTROL OF ME? NO! The hypnotist cannot force you to do anything against your will. There is always an observing ego state. Should the hypnotist make an offensive suggestion; this observing ego state would reject the suggestion. Additionally, you will probably come out of self-hypnosis if the therapist makes an offensive suggestion to you.

CAN THE HYPNOTHERAPIST FORCE ME TO DIVULGE ANY OF MY SECRETS? You will not give up any secrets while in self hypnosis unless you want to. 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 subconscious mind. The subject can easily reject 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 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 hypnosis.

DO HYPNOTISTS HAVE SUPER NATURAL 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. In reality, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The therapist leads the subject into a state of self hypnosis. In other words, the ability of 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 hypnosis is an inadequate amount of practice where self-hypnosis is concerned.

The largest reason for the return of a symptom or "relapse" is the premature 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 subconscious 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 time that they are willing to spend for help. And then they prematurely discontinue 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 invaluable 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 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 the senses to make sense out of it and react to it.

In my opinion, 99% of the recorded self-hypnosis CDs available at this time 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 suggestions: "If you eat a brownie you will barf." "You will not have urges," etc.. This technology has an exceptionally poor track record of success because everyone of our generation has been trained 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 be very expensive. There are some hypnotic programs on the market based on Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that have overcome those shortcomings. They've done this by using a mix of Traditional Hypnosis, Ericksonian Hypnosis, NLP, and the highly regarded Video Hypnosis technology.

These are all methods that are designed to get rid of 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 companies that offer these technologies in multi-session products. These are programs that generally have six to eight different sessions, so the subject is exposed to a broad range of methodologies. It takes a lot of work to make 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 tapes 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 purchase a program and it does not 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 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 usually feel a 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.