THE DEFINITION OF SELF-HYPNOSIS: Self Hypnosis is a state of hyper-suggestibility where the conscious mind and the unconscious dissociate. It is a state of mind where the hypnotized patient is more likely to believe the Hypno-technician's suggestions.

You have been in the hypnotic state many times in the past without even recognizing the state. If you have ever watched a sad T.V. show and reacted with a tear in your eye, you have been in a state of hypnosis. You entered a state of amplified suggestibility where you uncritically received the suggestion of sadness on the TV screen and reacted with a sad emotion, your tear. In other words, your reasoning ability, which is contained in your conscious mind, was bypassed. You did not reason that the show was just a play; you accepted the drama as being genuine. So you reacted with real emotion and shed a tear.

WHO CAN BE HYPNOTIZED? It has been found that all normal people are hypnotizable to a greater or lesser extent. People with less than a 70 I.Q. generally are not hypnotizable. People who are actively psychotic usually cannot be hypnotized. Most senile people are difficult or impossible to hypnotize. I have found in my own private practice dealing with many retired people up to 85 years of age, that self hypnosis is a potent and beneficial technique for the majority of people. The person's motivation is the key to success.

DO I HAVE TO BE A "DEEP" SUBJECT TO BE SUCCESSFUL? For the healing applications of self hypnosis that are usually dealt with in therapy, hypnotic depth isn't required. You can be the lightest possible subject and still receive all of the benefits from self hypnosis that the deepest subjects will obtain. I feel that over the years, far too much importance has been placed on how deep a subject can go. If the subject is deep, it could be beneficial. This however, is not necessarily the case. In reality, with the latest hypnotic techniques like Ericksonian self hypnosis and state of the art "NLP" (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), the depth of the hypnotic state is one of the least important aspects, which contribute to success.

ARE THERE ANY DANGERS IN SELF-HYPNOSIS? There are essentially no dangers to the practice of self hypnosis. It is impossible to "get stuck" in self hypnosis. The most terrible thing that could possibly happen while a person is in the hypnotic state is that she might fall into a natural state of sleep for twenty or thirty minutes. She would wake up rested and no longer in the state of self hypnosis.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HYPNOSIS: There are many misconceptions about self hypnosis. Most of the misconceptions are due to stage and television acts. Paradoxically, it's on account of the fact that the television can hypnotize you that these misconceptions are so well-established in people's minds.

IS SELF-HYPNOSIS A STATE OF SLEEP? The largest misconception about self hypnosis is that it's sleep. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you are asleep, you are unconscious. If you are unconscious, you cannot hear anything. If you cannot hear anything, then the hypnotist cannot help you. Hypnosis is a state of keen awareness. The subject is wide-awake and aware of everything around her. This misconception stems from the stage Hypnotist's use of the word "sleep" as analogous to the hypnotic state. When the old time hypnotist swung the pocket watch in front of his subject's face, he told his subject that she was getting "sleepy." He then told his subject to "go to sleep." What he meant was to go into a hypnotic sleep, not a natural sleep.

IS THERE A HYPNOTIZED FEELING? The second largest misconception about hypnosis is that there is a hypnotized feeling. There is no specific hypnotized feeling. I repeat there is no specific hypnotized feeling. Most people feel very relaxed when in self-hypnosis, as relaxation seems to be the essence of the state of hypnosis. Some people feel heavy. Some people feel light. Some people have other sensations and feelings. Other people have absolutely no feeling that they are in self hypnosis, and believe they haven't been hypnotized when they most definitely have.

CAN THE HYPNOTIST TAKE CONTROL OF ME? NO! A hypnotist cannot force you to do anything against your will. There is always an observing ego state. Should the therapist make an offensive suggestion; this observing ego state would reject that suggestion. Additionally, you will probably come out of the state of hypnosis if the hypnotist makes an offensive suggestion to you.

CAN THE THERAPIST MAKE ME DIVULGE MY SECRETS? You won't give away any secrets while in hypnosis unless you want to do so. The hypnotist does not have any control over the subject. Quite the contrary, the subject has more control over herself since at this time she can directly communicate with her own unconscious. The subject can easily refuse any suggestion the hypnotist makes, no matter how simple or complicated the suggestion might be. The subject can open her eyes, exit from the state of self-hypnosis, and walk out of the room at any time she chooses.

MUST PEOPLE TELL THE TRUTH WHEN IN SELF-HYPNOSIS? NO! People can lie when in a state of self hypnosis.

DO HYPNOTISTS HAVE SUPERNATURAL POWERS AND VIBRATIONS? This is a common misnomer. The hypnotist does not have any special powers, nor does he have any special vibrations with which to hypnotize you into a state of hypnosis. In reality, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The hypnotist leads the subject into a state of hypnotism. In other words, the ability of self-hypnosis is within the subject.

WHY DO PEOPLE FAIL TO REACH THEIR GOALS USING SELF-HYPNOSIS? Perhaps the main reason for the failure to reach one's goals through hypnosis is an inadequate amount of practice where self-hypnosis is concerned.

The greatest reason for the return of a symptom or "relapse" is the early discontinuance of self hypnosis with the Hypno-therapist or recorded program. While self-hypnosis is important, it is generally the hetero-hypnosis with the hypnotist or hypnosis recording which has the greatest impact upon the unconscious.

This is because of the training and experience that the hypnotist has vs. the lack of training and experience of the client. Some people are penny wise and pound-foolish. They mentally set an amount of money that they are willing to spend for help. And then they prematurely abate their sessions because; "I didn't lose 50 Lbs. in two days, so it isn't working."

If a therapeutic method is really helping one to make positive changes, then it is priceless and it should be sustained. For this reason it is wise to have follow up self-hypnosis sessions, even after a symptom seems to have disappeared completely. Self-hypnosis should be an ongoing affair on a daily basis. Ultimately, YOUR SUCCESS IS UP TO YOU!

WILL I BE BETTER OFF HIRING A HYPNOTIST, OR WILL PURCHASING A RECORDED PROGRAM WORK BETTER? That is a great question. Normally I would recommend that you employ the services of a reputable hypnotist. The reason is that by meeting with you, a good hypnotist / NLP'er will be able to customize his approach to your personality and your favored representational system -- the way you favor taking in information through your senses to make sense out of it and react to it.

In my opinion, ninety-nine percent of the recorded self-hypnosis tapes available today are based on Traditional Hypnosis, and are made up of only one or maybe two sessions of it at that. Traditional Hypnosis is nothing more than a set of direct post-hypnotic commands: "If you eat a brownie you will vomit." "You won't have urges," and so forth. This technology has an exceptionally poor track record of success because the people in our generation have been trained to question everything. That's why you, your friends, and your kids usually do the opposite of what they are told to do. This is called a polarity response.

That being said, having private sessions with any hypnotist / NLP'er who has enough experience to be able to actually help you can be very expensive. There are some hypnotic programs that are based on Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that have overcome those shortcomings. They've managed this by utilizing a mix of NLP, Traditional Hypnosis, Ericksonian Hypnosis, And the highly regarded Video Hypnosis technology.

These are all technologies that are designed to eliminate the resistance factor. In fact, Video Hypnosis and the NLP technology that it's based on do not utilize suggestion at all. They rely on using the thought processes that have created a problem, to eliminate it!

Look for vendors who offer these methodologies in multi-session products. These are programs that generally have six to eight different hypnosis sessions, so the subject is exposed to a broad variety of methodologies. It takes a lot of work to make this type of program, but the high success rates achieved are well worth the trouble.

Stay away from the "one size fits all" -- "do-or-die" self hypnosis CDs and downloads. Many people are lured in by these programs because they are inexpensive, usually under $10.00. But is it cheap if it just wastes your valuable time and doesn't work?

If you purchase a program and it doesn't work, then you get guarded and start to expect the next approach to fail. And you get what you expect. Do you really think that the same exact post-hypnotic commands will work for everyone? Do you think that they will work for you? Do you generally do exactly as you are told? Or do you feel a desire to do the opposite of what you are told?

(c) 2007 By Alan B. Densky, CH. This document may be re-printed as long as it is not altered and the author's name and clickable links are retained.

Alan B. Densky, CH is certified by the NGH He's authored dozens of articles and four books on hypnosis and NLP. He is the developer of the Video Self Hypnosis Technology, which he perfected for weight loss and smoke cessation. Visit his Neuro-VISION Video Hypnosis website for FREE Hypnosis MP3s, articles, & newsletters.