FAQ
Lets explore hypnosis
Welcome to the FAQ page
(I do things a little different, so please bear with and read on)
Hypnosis is a natural function of the mind. You are in hypnotic trance to one degree or another at all times. When the trance is induced, the connection is solid and that is when you are able to get past the critical faculty and change whatever you wish. When you attempt to change a habit with "willpower," for instance, you tell yourself, "I am changing this!" However, since the new instruction set is not in line with the old, the critical faculty rejects the message and it never gets to the subconscious, which is the part of the mind that controls the functions of change. This is why "will power" is not the best way to effect changes in ourselves. Before I explain further, lets have a look at the three most popular myths about hypnosis and take a look at the truth. After that, I will explain the speed with which change is made in hypnosis and some scientific research that explains how it all works in the mind.
The Myths Surrounding Hypnosis Debunked
The first thing you have to do, is forget everything you ever saw about hypnosis on TV or in the movies
It is all make believe. Nobody can just hypnotize you and take control of you. The myths about hypnosis stop many people from helping themselves. That's right, helping themselves! Inside us all, we have all the tools we need to repair the damage our life experiences have done to us!
Let me dispel the three biggest, most common myths about hypnosis right now. Here are the hard facts about those myths. Ask any competent hypnotist, or even a not so competent hypnotist, and they will tell you I am absolutely spot on with what I am about to tell you. By all means, check with a hypnotist or two for yourself. Remember, Hollywood is selling you a product, including horror, suspense, mystery and drama. They invent stuff to entertain and advertise to get peoples money.
Come on! You know this thing, right?
I cover all of this elsewhere, but it is important enough to say it again.
Q: Will I be asleep during hypnosis?
A: No.
Though the word “sleep” gets used, when going into hypnotic trance, you are NOT asleep. You are totally aware the entire time. In fact, all of your senses are tuned in far better than when not in hypnotic trance. So the fact is, you are hyper aware. You know everything that is happening around you and everything that is being said 100% of the time! Though you are so physically relaxed, your head droops onto your chest, it is not sleep. Not by a long shot! You are just almost totally inward focused.
Q: Will someone be in control of me during hypnosis?
A:
No.
A hypnotist cannot make ANY changes without your express approval. That's right, if you don't approve, it is just words spoken. PERIOD! If someone hypnotized you and then told you “You are going to rob XYZ bank tomorrow,” your eyes would snap open, and you would be saying “WHAT did you just say?” (Unless of course you were totally into robbing that bank) So basically, I am saying you are NOT a zombie! Nobody is in control of you during hypnotic trance, except you.
Q: What if I get “stuck” in hypnotic trance”
A:
That cannot happen.
There is no possible way to get “stuck” in hypnotic trance. One of the people who helped train me was in a hypnotherapy session a few years back. His client was DEEP in hypnotic trance when he had a heart attack and fell to the floor unconscious. After about a minute of silence, the client got a bit concerned because she thought the hypnotist had walked out of the room. So she opened her eyes to see what was going on and found the hypnotist on the floor in full cardiac arrest. She grabbed the phone on his desk and called 911, saving his life. You can walk out of a hypnosis session any time you want to. The worst possible scenario would lead to the subject falling into normal sleep and waking up in the normal fashion.
I have repeatedly had clients deep in trance in a video chat session, when the call got dropped.
Within less than 2 minutes, the client calls me back and we finished our session.
So what does the hypnotist do?
During hypnosis, the hypnotist does not control someone, they guide them. They lead them to the actual problem, then to the tools and tell them how to use them to fix their own issues. For me, I do not even need to know the specifics the majority of the time. I won't take what I consider the risk of re-traumatizing the subject by demanding they tell me the specifics. Though in certain instances, I will ask a couple simple questions so I know which direction to take them next.
I believe that conventional "talk therapy," where you go through the trauma again and again is harmful! I believe it does not help us, it traumatizes us all over again. “What do you mean I need to go through that again? Didn't it mess me up enough the first time?” There is a better, gentler, less likely to be harmful and more effective alternative!
What Is Hypnosis?
O.K. So, what exactly is hypnosis? There are many kinds. There is street, stage and hypnotherapy among others. You are not only in and out of hypnosis every day, repeatedly, you are in a trance state at all times, at one level or another. It is a natural function of the mind. If you are going to tell me you cannot be hypnotized, I want to see the death certificate and autopsy report! Because if you are not capable of that natural brain function, your heart and lungs will not work. You get room temperature real fast. I kid you not!
(See the video at the bottom of this section for further information on this subject)
Have you ever driven past an exit you take all the time, or arrived at your destination far sooner than you thought you would, (This is highway hypnosis or "White Line Fever") or have you had to search for your keys, only to find them in your hand or right where you left them, right where you looked repeatedly? These are instances where you have experienced hypnosis. An induced hypnotic trance is simply a state in which you are fully connected with yourself and you have almost total inward focus.
In the case of you not being able to find your keys, you were likely thinking something like “Where did I put them, I can't find my keys and I am going to be late!” The way the mind works, your subconscious mind picked up on that repeated thought, interpreted it as an instruction and made your eyes NOT see the keys right there on the desk in front of you, where you left them. That is called “Negative hypnosis.” It is a process I use in street and stage hypnosis to make it appear to the subject that I am invisible. I can walk around right in front of them, even wave my hand in front of their face and they will not see me.
Remember, street and stage hypnosis are not change work. They are for entertainment and fun. It is completely different from hypnotherapy. The “changes” made are not permanent. They are temporary and only for the duration of the show. Should a hypnotist forget to take away the suggestion that makes you forget a number at the end of a show, that number would come back in about an hour, naturally.
Why is hypnosis needed to work with the subconscious?
There is a solid psychological reason coaches tell their athletes to visualize making the play. Visualize making the shot and picture winning the game. They do this because it works. But here is why it works. The subconscious mind does not do really well with the spoken language. It deals in emotions, pictures and images. Hey! You have heard it said, “A picture is worth 1,000 words” right? I do not know of anywhere that is more true than when trying to communicate with our own subconscious mind. That part of the mind that actually makes any changes we want.
I use this during hypnosis to help people install an instruction set, and direct their subconscious to do whatever it is they are wanting to do. Stop smoking, lose weight, make changes that lower their negative reactions, get over a phobia, make physical changes to the body, like enhance a woman's breasts, deal with chronic pain, reduce or stop experiencing other symptoms and so much more..
The thing I have to work with to do this? The subconscious in an adult has the maturity level of a six year old! And it interprets things quite literally the majority of the time. Which of course is why we need a hypnotist to guide us through the process of change work. As stated, a hypnotist makes no changes, they just guide the client through the process and the client is the one that makes the changes. Remember, I told you that when you are hypnotized, you are still in complete control. Remember it is a team effort.
How Fast Can Hypnosis Make Changes In Our Lives?
In order to answer that, I want to just again share a quote of someone who has laid it out in a way that really makes the point for me. He lays it out bare and unmistakable. He puts it in a way that, for me, leaves nothing left to ask on this issue.
(Where he says “bypass of the critical factor” he is talking about being in hypnotic trance)
“Onion's An Apple”
(The following passage written by Stephen C. Parkhill)
---------SNIP----------
“For now we’ll just start at the point where bypass of the critical factor has been attained. Once a straight path has been gained to the subconscious mind, the stage-show hypnotist might give the suggestion that the person is about to be given a ripe, delicious apple, and they’re free to eat away.
The audience next sees the hypnotist hand the person a peeled yellow onion. The audience watches in horror as the subject crunches away with a big smile, totally believing the onion’s a tasty apple. It’s stunning to watch and hard to believe, but real. Once that suggestion got to the subconscious, goal-achieving mind, the most powerful agency known to man accepted it as fact and made it real.
After ten years working with this stuff, it still blows me away when I see these types of things happen right before my eyes! Is there anything socially redeeming to the old “onion’s an apple” gig? I don’t think so. But look at what the stage-show hypnotist has been able to get the mind to do.
Using the onion-to-apple example, how long would it take a psychologist to logic a person into that kind of a belief system shift? Well, it would take six sessions to develop rapport ... and then another eight sessions to assess current condition ... not very entertaining . . . and worse yet, not in ten years of weekly visits would the person start to think the onion was an apple! The stage-show hypnotist can accomplish this in a matter of minutes. If you want to talk about changing perceptions, who’s going to want to compete with these stage-show hypnotists!!
Now, am I recommending that you go to a stage-show hypnotist for healing? No. But learning and applying what they know about the mind is precious to healing. I too see no value in making a person believe that an onion is an apple, but how many people can be helped if changing perceptions of self-worth happens with the same ease?”
----------SNIP----------
As you can see, hypnosis is amazingly powerful for real, lasting, inner change, very quickly.
What Can Hypnosis Do?
Hypnosis is proven to even be able to control the immune system. There have been over 100 scientific studies that ALL show that hypnosis can alter the bodies immune system reactions. For instance:
----------SNIP----------
Zachariae R, Bjerring P, et al. Modulation of type I immediate and type IV delayed immunoreactivity using direct suggestion and guided imagery during hypnosis. Allergy. 1989;44(8):537–542.
Abstract
“Cutaneous reactivity against histamine skin prick test (Type I) and purified tuberculin protein derivative (Mantoux reaction, Type IV) was studied in eight volunteers under hypnosis. Types I and IV immunoreactivity were modulated by direct suggestion (Type I) and guided imagery (Type IV). The volunteers were highly susceptible subjects, selected by means of the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A. When the volunteers underwent hypnotic suggestion to decrease the cutaneous reaction to histamine prick test, a significant (P less than 0.02) reduction of the flare reaction (area of erythema) was observed compared with control histamine skin prick tests. The wheal reaction did not respond to hypnotic suggestion. Neither wheal nor flare reaction could be increased in size by hypnotic suggestion compared with control histamine skin prick tests. A hypnotic suggestion of increasing the Type IV reaction on one arm and decreasing the reaction on the other revealed a significant difference in both erythema size (P less than 0.02) and palpable induration (P less than 0.01). In two cases the reactions were monitored by laser doppler blood flowmetry and skin thickness measurement by ultrasound. The difference between the suggested increased and decreased reaction was 19% for the laser doppler bloodflow (in favor of the augmented side), and 44% for the dermal infiltrate thickness. This study objectively supports the numerous uncontrolled case reports of modulation of immunoreactivity in allergic diseases involving both Type I and Type IV skin reactions following hypnotic suggestions.”
----------SNIP----------
What Would A Doctor Say About Hypnosis?
That depends on the doctor. My cardiologist sends his other patients to see me for therapy. He recognizes the power of hypnosis and has no problems referring his patients to me. We have worked together to help him understand the things hypnosis can do and he believes in it and trusts me to take good care of his referred patients.
I have also had clients referred to me by my General Practitioner, my dentist and my physiotherapist.
Generally speaking, doctors, brain surgeons and psychiatrists will say there is no such thing as the conscious or subconscious mind. There is only one brain. When you press the issue, they invariably grab a model or chart of the brain and ask you to point to the subconscious and conscious mind. Which of course you cannot do.
I suppose nobody ever clued their teachers in to the fact that these terms refer to groups of functions of the mind and not the physical location within the brain. fMRI technology has given us some insight into hypnosis and how it works.
----------SNIP----------
http://johnmongiovi.com/pages/brain-imaging
Neural activity in hypnosis
“Hypnosis causes changes in brain activity and connectivity consistent with decreased self-consciousness, increased control of internal sensations and emotion, and less worry.
A study by researchers at Stanford University in July 2016 considered what takes place in the brain in general during hypnosis. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to observe brain activity in 57 subjects in hypnosis. Changes were observed in three specific areas of the brain:[11]
1. Reduced connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (part of the executive control network involved in planning and decision making) and the posterior cingulate cortex (the part of the default mode network active during self-related thinking). This reduced connection between planning of actions and self-awareness may account for the immediacy of action that takes place during hypnosis. In hypnosis, as in states of deep absorption in a task or performance, one acts spontaneously, without reflecting upon actions.
2. Increased connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (part of the executive control network involved in planning and decision making) and the insula (the part of the salience network involved in sensing and regulating internal bodily processes). This may be responsible for the increased control over bodily and emotional processes in hypnosis.
3. Reduced activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (part of the salience network involved in the emotional evaluation of errors and worrying). The dorsal ACC is also active during effortful performance. This reduced activity may explain why, in hypnosis and states of deep absorption, actions and performance take place effortlessly and with less worry.”
----------SNIP----------
The main point to be taken from the above is #2. “increased control over bodily and emotional processes in hypnosis.” Because in induced hypnosis we access a level of control we do not have outside the induced hypnotic trance, we are able to effect changes in a very quick and positive manner not available to us normally. The power we have in this state is only limited by our own acceptance of our supremacy in our own lives. The operative part is the control we exert in this state. We can in fact, alter our emotional reactions in any way we wish, to whatever we wish. We can also take control of our bodies in so many ways.
This gives rise to the ability to realign our reactions to stimuli we cannot really control outside of trance. In conventional psychotherapy for instance, we can go to the psychotherapist for years and years and never effect true, positive change within our emotional reaction frame and therefore, we are stuck with the same reactive emotions to whatever stimuli we are dealing with.
In other words, the leopard cannot change its spots. (See above: "Onion's An Apple")
But that changes entirely when we induce hypnotic trance. Now we are able to alter our reactions to whatever stimuli we wish. So, where we once came out of our skin at a sudden loud noise, (Speaking of PTSI) we can change that reaction to just temporary heightened alert. We do not want to get rid of the reactivity for obvious reasons, it is part of our survival mechanism. But we can also alter our nervous system in many ways. This also leads to the ability to non surgically enhance a woman's breasts, by instructing the subconscious to restart the growth cycle, or get rid of an allergy. (See above: ("What Can Hypnosis Do?")
This holds true with pretty much everything in our lives. Our mind is the control center and we can adjust the reaction levels up or down to a particular stimulus or event in order to stabilize our lives and, (Again speaking of PTSI) get rid of the over reactions that were put in place during the fight or flight response. The over reaction of this system retrains the mind to react in an exaggerated manner, so taking control of it is a step towards our healing process.
If you have questions, go to the blog, or if you are shy, hit the contact us link and send your question directly and privately to Memo. Bear in mind, though we are told otherwise all our lives, the only stupid question, is the one we don't ask. A question is simply seeking knowledge and there is nothing at all wrong with that.
Can you be hypnotized?
Generally speaking, in humans, hypnosis is possible, and effective, as long as the subject has an IQ of 85 or above. Amazingly, the higher your IQ, the easier it is for you to enter hypnotic trance. This is because those of higher intelligence, already have an easier time accessing their entire mind. But, animals can also be hypnotized. Though obviously, you cannot work with them in hypnotherapy.