What if I can't be hypnotised?

I have had more than a few clients tell me, before their first session that they are worried that they “can’t be hypnotised”.

It’s a common and completely understandable concern – especially if you’ve never done this sort of thing before. For many people, hypnosis is a bit of strange world to be venturing into. It holds no small amount of mystique within society amongst those who have never experienced it. It has been subtly stigmatised and perhaps even ridiculed over the years in literature, TV shows, movies and even cartoons.

So the therapist holds up a watch on a chain, says a few magic words and then suddenly I’m asleep and giving them my bank details and all of my passwords, right?

Hardly.

The truth is that the person is always consciously aware of what is happening at ALL times during the session. Additionally, if they ever doubt that this happens, they are more than welcome to record the session on their phone, or have me record it for them.

Now that this hurdle has been cleared – hypnosis is safe, and the client feels at ease with the therapist – the next question arises: what if I can’t be hypnotised?

What does “being hypnotised” mean? To answer this, refer to the sentiment expressed earlier in this article.

Being hypnotised absolutely does not mean losing all sense of what is going on such that the session is occurring without the person’s awareness. If this ever happens, it’s because the client has fallen asleep. That happens occasionally with my clients, but usually only when a long term rapport and trust has been established. Not on the first session, or even within the first four or five sessions.

What happens for the newer participant in this process is as follows:

* They have their eyes closed, are relaxed – sometimes deeply, sometimes to a lesser degree – and are totally aware of what is being said to them. This relaxed state is called trance. Trance can be thought of as a calm, focused state of mind – where outside distractions fade, and the inner world becomes more present.

* If the client is told – and this never happens, but it’s good to know – to do something against their will (for example, commit a crime) then their subconscious mind is right there, listening as if they were a spectator, and kicks in right away, probably ending the session or at least “waking up” and opening their eyes, or perhaps speaking up. This is not to illustrate potential malpractice on the part of the therapist – instead it illustrates the awareness that the client has, in session.

* The next stage is to either listen to the therapist and receive healing suggestions, or experience being led to a peaceful place that they can picture or sense while in trance.

* Or perhaps the therapist might ask a few questions, which the client will always hear and respond to. Some have told me: “but that was my conscious mind you were talking to”. Not quite. The difference is subtle. The mental state shifts to a more allowing kind of mindset, permitting conversation with the deeper part of oneself (the subconscious) and therefore creating change in the person’s thinking or approach to life.

* Remember, the conscious mind is allowing this, the whole time. If it doesn’t want to do anything that is discussed (for example, to stop being anxious about things they can’t control) then change will not happen.

It is all about allowing the change to occur. Or allowing the experience of, say, a past life, to float into their mind while in trance and be made known.

This is what “being hypnotised” means. Even if it is just relaxation, and nothing more, then congratulations, you’ve been hypnotised. Given that definition, I can say with complete confidence that not one of my clients in four years of practice have failed to be “hypnotised”.

If you want to know more, please contact me using the contact form on this site, or give me a call.