About Hypnosis
ABOUT HYPNOSIS (See also Stage Hypnosis)
In a way, there is no such thing as ‘hypnosis’ as it is popularly imagined. The general impression many people have in their minds does not have anything to do with hypnotherapy anyway, it comes from seeing demonstrations of Stage Hypnosis, and drawing all the wrong conclusions!
Stage Hypnosis appears to be a demonstration of one person directly influencing or controlling the behaviour of another, but that is not what is really going on. For a more detailed explanation, read the Stage Hypnosis page on this website, but in a nutshell, the key to understanding Stage Hypnosis is this: the hypnotist has to get the right people up on the stage to begin with, because most people would not respond to those suggestions, however deep in trance they might be.
Who are the right people? Well, the kind of people who want to be in a Stage Hypnosis performance, that’s who! And of course that rules out most of the audience immediately, because they don’t. Right from the start, the Stage Hypnotist understands that most of the people in the audience are no use to him except as an audience. He just doesn’t want them to realise that. This is not because they ‘can’t be hypnotised’ or they are not ’suggestible’ - we are all capable of responding to suggestion in trance, under the right circumstances. No, it is simply because they don’t want to play the Stage Hypnotist’s game - they have no motivation to respond to those particular suggestions, or even to be on the stage at all.
Would-be Entertainers
Stage Hypnotists simply operate a selection process which sorts the natural performers from the spectator majority, preferably without anyone in the audience realising the true nature of that process, although a few smart ones will figure it out anyway. So when the behaviour later gets very silly, these sharp observers will correctly guess that the people in the spotlight are really would-be entertainers. No-one else could be bothered to act it up like that, whether they were in trance or not. The truth is, they are not doing those things because they are in hypnosis, but because they like doing things like that, whereas most people would rather die than be seen doing things like that. In fact their fear of being in the spotlight helps to convince Spectators that the hypnotist must surely have those poor people ‘in his power’ if he is able to ‘make’ them humiliate themselves to that degree.
In reality, the hypnotist isn’t commanding anyone - he just makes it look like that, and hopes the audience is imaginative enough to believe he has some sort of mysterious power! He is really just giving the performers cues, and they are only responding in order to win attention and applause. And let’s face it, this is the easiest show in the world to star in, isn’t it? They don’t even have to learn any lines, they are told what to do moment by moment. So if they respond to a suggestion to do something ridiculous to make the audience laugh, and indeed it gets a big laugh - well, now they’re a comedian! Some people can get a bit carried away after that, but you need performers up there, spectators wouldn’t find any of that enjoyable, their responses would be feeble and half-hearted, or they might not respond at all.
Hypnotists do not control people - if we could really do that, we would rule the world, obviously. And clearly we don’t, proving that stage hypnosis is only an act. All any sort of hypnotist can ever do is put forward suggestions to the Subconscious mind of another person. This is exactly like presenting a suggestion to the conscious mind: all we know for sure is that it will be considered. We don’t know what the response will be until the person responds. Anyone is free to respond positively or not, depending upon how they personally feel about the idea that has been presented.
The Subconscious Mind Does What it Chooses
The Subconscious mind is not robotic or ‘programmable’. When I address the Subconscious mind of a client, I am not telling it what to do! That would be a very silly approach, and would not be likely to lead to success. No, I am negotiating. Just as the Stage Hypnotist would get nowhere with a person who didn’t have a natural inclination to perform - because the suggestions have to be in line with that person’s true desires or there will be no response - so my suggestions must be in line with the issue the client is there to address, or there will be no response. This remains true no matter how deep in trance you may be, or however relaxed. Whether on stage or in therapy, people only respond to suggestions they personally like the sound of - hypnosis does not alter that fact at all.
The Real Significance of Trance
Trance is a normal state that we drift in and out of quite often during the course of an average day. The thing that surprises everyone when they discover hypnotherapy for themselves is that they feel perfectly normal during the trance part of the session. In reality the only significance of trance is this: when a person is not in trance, their Subconscious is leaving it to the conscious mind to deal with the world around them. Therefore if you are speaking to that person, only their conscious mind will take in the details of what you are saying.
Whenever we drift into trance - in any situation at all, it doesn’t have to be in a therapist’s office or on a stage - that changes, and the Subconscious takes responsibilty for dealing with the outside world as well as the internal world. Daydreaming is a good example, or any habitual behaviour carried out ‘on autopilot’. So if you are speaking to a person who is doing that, then their Subconscious mind will have the opportunity to consider the information as well.
Their conscious mind might be paying attention too, or it may have wandered off, but either way the Subconscious will take in all the details. Then it will do what it likes, but in deciding what that is, it will have taken the new information into account, and also how you apparently feel at the time - assuming that is how you feel about what is being said. That is why we aim to generate a mood of general well-being during the trance part of the session. Relaxation is usually included for exactly that reason. If the client is relaxed and comfortable - i.e. feeling good - the assumption of the Subconscious is that they feel good about the proposed changes, and it is more likely to go ahead and instigate that change. Conversely, if the client’s mood is negative for any reason, this can block change.
If the Subconscious mind of a client in hypnotherapy decides to change something, on account of the case made out by the therapist - and the positive prevailing mood - very often the change will not be noticed by the client at the time. Only later on, when they are once again in the sort of situation where the problem usually occurred, will they find to their astonishment that the behaviour (or experience) has changed. This is usually a surprise and delight to the client’s conscious mind, which didn’t do anything and didn’t really expect it to work. This is entirely because the conscious mind doesn’t really believe in the Subconscious, except perhaps in theory. So by extension, it doesn’t really believe in hypnotherapy either - except perhaps in theory.
Those last points are general observations that are true of most people, not everybody. They are really a combination of three factors influencing our conscious assumptions:
1). It was drilled into all of us from an early age that if we want success, we have to try really hard. This simply does not apply in hypnotherapy, because when the Subconscious mind changes anything, we are not aware of any effort being involved. This is completely different from our previous experience of making conscious efforts (willpower): to stop smoking, or eat healthily. Therefore hypnotherapy sounds ‘too easy’ or ‘too good to be true’ to the conscious mind. Don’t let that bother you, it is normal.
2). The conscious mind of a normal adult will always approach something new with due skepticism anyway. This does not prevent susccess in hypnotherapy, provided the change is genuinely what you would prefer as an outcome, i.e. in line with your true desires.
3). We were all raised and educated as if the Subconscious mind does not exist, so even when we are told about it later, the conscious mind still struggles to believe it really exists, or that it can help in any way. Hence its astonishment when hypnotherapy works!