Hypnosis is a skill: practice and improve!
People often ask me if they can be hypnotized, and the answer is, in a majority of cases, yes. There is a small segment of the population that cannot seem to go into hypnosis effectively, but it is fewer than ten percent. A skilled hypnotist can shave that percentage even lower.
So let’s assume you can be hypnotized. Then the question becomes, how “deep” into hypnosis can you go? How effective will it be for you? Hypnotists, particularly those who prefer to be at the cutting edge of what is scientifically possible with hypnosis, are leaving behind the idea of “depth of trance” in favor of the idea that a trance is a trance. no matter how profound it may seem. If this is so, then it depends on the hypnotist’s skill and training to be able to achieve favorable results from the trance state.
So you definitely want a well-trained, certified hypnotist to help you achieve your goals. Then you can leave behind worries or concerns that you may not go “deep” enough to get what you need from hypnosis. As long as you are hypnotized, a good hypnotist can get you where you need to be.
More good news: current science suggests that people can improve their results with hypnosis over time. Leaving trance depth aside, there are people who can experience amazing things with hypnosis. Stage hypnotists are able to make their subjects experience an altered reality, where breathing imaginary laughing gas causes genuine fits of laughter, or imagining that an ordinary shoe is a lovable kitten or puppy to be cuddled and petted.
People who experience these amazing and convincing phenomena are called “high responders” or “somnambulists” and in a therapeutic setting, they can get results unusually quickly. At the other end of the scale are what are called “low responders,” who cannot experience some of these amazing effects and may take longer to get the results they are seeking.
I was somewhat of a low responder when it came to my initial explorations of self-hypnosis. It was disappointing that I couldn’t experience the hallucinations that high responders enjoyed, and at the time I mistakenly assumed that my results from therapeutic hypnosis would be equally limited. But I quickly learned that I could get good therapeutic results despite not being able to see a puppy on the table where there was none.
Now, thanks to ground-breaking research by hypnotists like Anthony Jacquin, I have progressed to where I can experience more high-responder phenomena. To achieve this, all I had to do was practice consistently, and expand my awareness of what was possible for me.
It’s like exercising. When you are out of shape, you may only be able to jog around the block once before tiring yourself out. But as you practice, your stamina improves and your muscles become capable of sustaining longer runs. If you keep at it, you can run a 5k marathon. Same with hypnosis.
The best way to practice is via self-hypnosis. If you are a client of mine, I can teach you a highly effective and simple method of self-hypnosis, and the more you practice it, the better you will be at it. But you can learn to self-hypnotize even without my help. Check out The Science of Self Hypnosis, by noted hypnotist Adam Eason for easy ways to experience and benefit from self-hypnosis. And remember: practice, practice and practice some more!
