A Frequently Asked Questions
Does hypnosis really work?
Yes. Hypnosis is officially approved for many medical purposes, even including hypnotically anesthetized surgeries, labors/childbirths, and dental procedures for those with conditions for which anesthesia is contra-indicated. You don’t need to take my word for it. The Internet is full of information about the effective use of hypnosis for many applications.
Am I able to trance? / I’ve tried hypnosis before, but it didn’t really seem to work.
Nearly everyone can be tranced, or hypnotized, barring certain brain damage or a serious mental health disorder. Other things that can interfere with an optimal trance are certain pharmaceutical and recreational drugs; alcohol; caffeine and other stimulants; bright lights, loud noises, or other significant distractions in the environment; trying to trance while doing other things (trancing is a time to lie or sit down with your head supported and focus your attention onto the session).
Other reasons:
- For most of us, guided meditation is a skill we can develop; I help optimize your experience using my clinically based free intro meditation, Deep Relaxation Guided Meditation Training. Many subjects come to me after having mediocre trance experiences elsewhere, though all they needed was the necessary state of relaxed concentration necessary for becoming receptive to meditative suggestions (also called “triggers”).
- Many professional and amateur hypnotists, alike, use very brief inductions, aware that merely relaxing will make the subject receptive to suggestions. While this can be true, in my own experience working and exploring with my subjects, taking the time to do a deeper induction than the current norm yields better results, and it’s far more relaxing, refreshing, and enjoyable, besides.
- As mentioned, for most of us, guided meditation takes practice! Some will be naturally top-level subjects; most of the rest of us will experience more powerful effects with a little dedication to continued use (aka practice, just by using your program often, per instructions).
My process is unique because it provides a way for you to make even better use of many health, wellness, lifestyle, relationship, entertainment, leisure, and other benefits and effects, and enjoy many different extraordinary experiences, too (some people like to easily learn how to lucid dream. Some want to get through a boring work day, but for it to magically feel as fun as playing their favorite game. Some want to experience healthy foods as being ridiculously delicious (until they’ve eaten their fill, that is), and junk foods as always bland, while they are on a diet.
Results vary. That said, achieving a life full of these wonderful aids, tweaks, and perks on a daily basis is actually very easy and effective for a lot of people. Now you get to wonder: Am I one of the lucky ones? Can I experience what is essentially…magic? The answer is…yes, probably! Let’s talk. Get a free consult with me at https://www.zenmindware.com/product/live-hypnosis-sessions/ - Sometimes you will trance and remain “awake” and aware of your surroundings. This does not mean that it didn’t work. Sometimes you will have a “falling asleep” experience, and this also doesn’t mean that the suggestions didn’t “take.” In fact, this means that you tranced more deeply. If you did in fact fall asleep, your subconscious mind still absorbed the suggestions.
- Not all suggestions are right for all people, so not all suggestions will be experienced as fully or at all. This is all part of the discussion below, “Can you make me do things against my will?”
- Most hypnotic suggestions need at least some reinforcement, meaning, repeated listening, to follow fairly soon after your initial session, for practice. Initially, daily sessions for at least a few days are recommended in most cases, then reducing to every other day for a few days, and then maintenance listening should continue 1-3 times per week, depending on the subject, thereafter, though some will find that listening a couple of times per month is all that is needed.
- If you tried hypnosis to overcome an addiction like smoking, or to achieve other effects that you are more or less committed to, be aware that hypnosis is NOT the most effective application for those things. (Neurofeedback is better for quitting smoking or other addictions.) No one methodology is a panacea. Acupuncture is not the way to go to fix a broken leg. Neurofeedback is right for epilepsy; hypnosis is not intended for it. Etc.
Can you make me do things against my will?
This is a common myth about hypnosis. However, any hypnotist with any real qualification knows that a subject will only do what feels truly safe and morally right for him or her as a person. Volunteers at a stage hypnosis performance allow themselves to be made to bark like a dog because they feel safe and they have an excuse. “The hypnotist made me do it!” There’s a part of them that allows them to be “taken over” as long as they are comfortable throughout. But if asked to do something against their own personal best interest or morals, they will “wake” out of trance, trust will be broken, and future trancing with this hypnotist – and likely any other – will be impossible or difficult to achieve.