This is a hilarious question, and my guess about its origin is that it’s based on a perception of hypnosis like it’s presented in cartoons. When hypnosis is used in comics, it enables the “hypnotist” to control the subject. If you think that when hypnosis is “working,” you have total control over an individual, you … Read more
The short answer is yes, but let me explain it in more detail. There are many common beliefs about pregnancy and labor that build up expectations in the minds of women who haven’t ever been pregnant. It’s a widespread belief that it hurts to give birth to a child. In the eyes of a hypnotist, … Read more
If the path to the hypnotic was through boredom, I guess a deep monotone voice would be preferred. I think that Ernest Hilgard is responsible for this myth because he was a prominent researcher applying scientific principles to the field of hypnotism. Unfortunately for Ernest Hilgard, he chose to hypnotize people with an induction tape, … Read more
You will see the words several times when you read about hypnosis: the subconscious mind is also called the unconscious mind. There have also been several different interpretations of what this “unconscious mind” is. In recent times Richard Bandler of NLP has coined the term with the meaning of “Whatever we aren’t conscious of at … Read more
Even though you may have heard a hypnotist say the word “Sleep” to induce the hypnotic trance, the state of hypnosis is not quite the same as sleeping. Hypnosis is most similar to the state you are in right before you wake up and right before you fall asleep. This is also a good description … Read more
Mesmerism is essentially the same as hypnosis; the word mesmerism is just a lot older than hypnosis and was packed with substantial misconceptions when it was used, which was the reason to change it. Mesmerism comes from the last name of Franz Anton Mesmer; he was the first to practice what we would call hypnosis … Read more
There are many myths in the area of hypnotizability. Common misunderstandings include the belief that hypnotizeable persons are pushovers who have the absolute authority or are unintelligible. Neither of these beliefs is true, but some characteristics usually can indicate if the client is highly hypnotizeable. Hypnosis and imagination seem to be linked in specific ways. … Read more
A very common question about the hypnotic state is whether you will experience amnesia after the hypnotic state. This is not an easy question to answer, because it is dependent on the situation. At times the unconscious mind can be protective and therefore decide that some issues shouldn’t be consciously available. Freud used psychoanalysis to … Read more
Many hypnotists offer weight reduction programs, but it’s my experience that most clients don’t know how hypnosis will help them lose weight. There are different approaches to this. The first approach would be to focus on the future and work with hypnosis to make healthy behavior the habit instead of bad habits of overeating and … Read more