How to Avoid Hypnotism

There is a long-standing perception that hypnotists possess some uncommon or even magical ability, and that they can cause people "under their spell" to do anything they want them to do. This belief has been fueled by the stage hypnotist who brings people out of an audience and apparently gets them to do things that they would seemingly never do. Although hypnosis has nothing to do with magical powers, it should be understood for what it really is and is not.

Instructions

• 1

  The state of hypnosis is said to occur when a hypnotist induces a trance-like state of consciousness in a subject (or, in the case of self-hypnosis, when someone puts himself in a trance-like state). In this state, which is often referred to as "hyper-suggestibility," the subject is open to the suggestions of the hypnotist.

• 2

  It is important to know that hypnotism is not nearly as successful as urban myth suggests. A subject who does not believe in the ability of a person to hypnotize him, or someone who does want to be hypnotized, won't be. No one can be hypnotized against his will. The success of a stage hypnotist depends upon his ability to spot extroverts in a crowd and those who have a natural inclination to "go along."

• 3

  Even most hypnotists say that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis because the subject is always in control and always has the choice to follow or not follow the hypnotist's suggestions. The reason that hypnotherapy can be successful is that the subject wants to follow the suggestions of the hypnotherapist but has been unable to quiet her own doubts or fears by herself effectively enough to replace them with the desired attitudes or behavioral impulses.

• 4

  The process of hypnotism begins with the subject closing her eyes so that she has a decreased awareness of what is going on around her through physical and peripheral perception.

• 5

  The subject is then encouraged to relax so that mental and emotional resistance is relaxed along with the muscles in his body. His decreased awareness of what is going on around him focuses his attention on the voice of the hypnotist. If the subject does not trust the hypnotist or hypnotherapist or is unwilling to relax his mental defenses, he won't achieve that level of "hyper-suggestibility" and the hypnotic state will not be achieved.

• 6

  Even if the subject does reach a hypnotic state, that does not mean that what is suggested during that state is irresistible. On the contrary, it may take many sessions before even the willing subject is able to quiet her unwanted fears and impulses and rely on the suggestions she's listened to while under hypnosis.

• 7

  Just as no one can make you trust them, no one can make you be hypnotized. If you do not want to be hypnotized, the mere fact that someone is trying to get you to do something you don't want to do is sufficient reason for you not to trust the person. Without trust, there is no mental relaxation; without mental relaxation, there is no hypnotic state.