QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Common Questions
WHO CAN BE HYPNOTIZED?
Anyone with an open mind, reasonable intelligence, an ability to concentrate, and a willingness to go into a relaxed state of mind. Some people are able to experience deep hypnosis very quickly while others may experience a light to medium hypnotic trance.
IS HYPNOSIS DANGEROUS?
There has never been a documented case of harm coming to anyone from the therapeutic use of hypnosis. In the mid 1950’s both the American Medical Association and British Medical Association approved of the use of hypnosis and deemed it “to not cause detrimental harm to the general health”.
WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE HYPNOTIZED? CAN I BE HYPNOTIZED?
Hypnosis is a very pleasant feeling of complete physical and mental relaxation. It is similar to that moment, just seconds before you fall asleep and you are aware of the moment, because you have experienced in the past. Often, when you are in hypnosis, you find your mind active, you hear every sound in the room, that you can resist the suggestions if you choose to, you realize that you are not asleep, and you are able to remember everything perfectly, all of these factors lead people to believe that they were not hypnotized, when indeed they were. Hypnosis, of course, is determined on whether or not you can allow relaxation to occur and what you want to have happen during a session. Most people have a preconceived idea of hypnosis and believe they will be asleep or unconscious, in the hypnotic state. In actuality, you will be able to hear, remember, and experience everything that is going on around you.
​
CAN A PERSON BE HYPNOTIZED AGAINST THEIR WILL OR MADE TO DO ANYTHING AGAINST THEIR WILL?
No one is able to be hypnotized against his or her will. If people were, hypnosis would be the most closely guarded secret on the planet. Entering hypnosis is a consent state. Because all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, the hypnotist assists the subject, who then hypnotizes him/herself.
DO PEOPLE HAVE TROUBLE COMING OUT OF HYPNOSIS?
Because the state of hypnosis is now known to simply be a brain wave pattern that is normal for any healthy brain (alpha and theta), it is impossible for anyone to stay in a hypnotic trance state. One may choose to stay in hypnosis after the hypnotherapist invites you to come back to full alertness because it is such a relaxed feeling of enjoyment; you just prefer to stay hypnotized a while longer. When the hypnotherapist waits. you would merely drift into a natural sleep and awaken after a few minutes in the delta brain wave function. There has never been a documented case of someone being unable to come out of hypnosis, any more than someone not waking up after a nap or night’s sleep.
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT HYPNOSIS?
Because the state of hypnosis is now known to simply be a brain wave pattern that is normal for any healthy brain (alpha and theta), it is impossible for anyone to stay in a hypnotic trance state. One may choose to stay in hypnosis after the hypnotherapist invites you to come back to full alertness because it is such a relaxed feeling of enjoyment; you just prefer to stay hypnotized a while longer. When the hypnotherapist waits. you would merely drift into a natural sleep and awaken after a few minutes in the delta brain wave function. There has never been a documented case of someone being unable to come out of hypnosis, any more than someone not waking up after a nap or night’s sleep.
WHAT IF I CAN’T BE HYPNOTIZED?
Most people feel or think this very same way. The fear is about the incorrect belief that one is giving up control. The opposite is actually true. You are exercising a more powerful form of thought control than at other times by accepting the suggestions given. The only thought to prevent you from going into hypnosis is the thought, “I can’t, or won’t, be hypnotized.”