Hypnosis FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can everyone be hypnotized?
I have never met anyone who could not, if they wanted to be hypnotized. If you do not want to be hypnotized, I probably could not hypnotize you and I wouldn’t try. But if you do not want to be hypnotized, why would you come to see a hypnotherapist?
Hypnosis is a trance state and all of us naturally go in and out of trance states every day without noticing or thinking about it – when we’re daydreaming, when we’re watching TV or a movie, when we’re engrossed in a book. In my hypnosis chair, you purposefully let me to guide you into a suggestible trance state so that your subconscious can more easily accept the beneficial changes and suggestions that you want.
2. How does it feel to be hypnotized?
Most people feel hypnosis to be very pleasant, but exactly how it feels varies from person to person. Parts of your body may feel tingly, light or heavy, warm or cool, expansive, “strange”, or none of these things. Many people are surprised at how normal and natural hypnosis feels. Some say it’s the most relaxed they have felt for years.
Hypnosis is not sleep; a hypnotized person is aware of everything that is happening and knows that he or she is in a hypnotic state – you don’t “zone out” or become a zombie. Some may not feel any different and may not even believe they are hypnotized; the only sure way to tell is how well the person responds to the hypnotist’s suggestions.
3. Will I lose control in hypnosis?
No. The fact is, in hypnosis you are always in control. You can and will reject any suggestion you do not like, that goes against your values or your wishes, or that you do not accept for any reason; you will ignore the suggestion and perhaps come out of trance completely.
4. Could I become stuck in hypnosis, unable to wake up?
It has never happened; it never will. Even if the hypnotist vanished, you would emerge from hypnosis naturally, in a fairly short amount of time.
5. Will I remember what happens during my session?
Yes.
6. What is self-hypnosis?
Sell-hypnosis is taking yourself into a trance state. You do this every day, when you daydream or when you really get into a book or movie. In effect, you are both the hypnotist and the subject. You can learn to use self-hypnosis purposefully, to give yourself positive suggestions or to just relax and de-stress.
7. Can hypnosis really make me stop smoking?
If you want to stop smoking, hypnosis will let you align your subconscious, your “body-mind”, with your conscious decision and enable your success. If you really don’t want to stop, if the motivation is coming from someone else, come back when you yourself are ready.
8. Can hypnosis really make me lose weight?
With hypnosis and NLP, we can re-sculpt your body image, conquer emotional and stress-related eating, motivate you to exercise, and build a new relationship with food and with yourself, without diets or feeling deprived. None of this will make you lose weight – you will not just go about your business and, without thinking about it, somehow become slim. What we will do, through our WHY program, is to bring that 90% of your mind, your subconscious, on board, so that all of you, consciously and otherwise, is moving successfully in the direction of reaching your desired size and weight and maintaining it long-term.
9. What happens in a hypnosis session?
If this is your first session with me, I will ask a lot of questions and listen carefully to what you tell me. I want to thoroughly understand how your issue is for you, how you experience it. I will ask you what change you want and how will you know when you have it?
We will talk some about hypnosis, what it is and what it isn’t, your experience with hypnosis, if any, and your expectations.
I will teach you a basic self-hypnosis / meditation exercise, then with that, guide you into hypnosis while we work to make the changes you want. Often I will work with NLP modalities, helping you to revise the ways you react to events and people and to change beliefs and behaviors in the directions you desire.
10. What is NLP?
NLP – Neuro-Linguistic Programming – is an approach to changing a person’s perspectives, outlooks, thinking, and behaviors, informed by an understanding of human communication and how the brain codes perceptions, experiences, and associations. It is sometimes called “waking hypnosis” because NLP methods and exercises accomplish some of the same things as hypnosis, without an explicit trance state.
NLP methods are especially useful in working with phobias, internal conflicts, grief, motivational problems, allergies, and anxieties such as stage fright and anticipating disaster.
I employ NLP in almost all of my change work, often blending it with hypnosis.
11. How many sessions will I need?
Hypnotherapy is a relatively short-term process, compared to Psychotherapy which can go on for many months or even years.
Some issues, such as phobias or motivational problems (such as procrastination) can be resolved in just one session. Others – anxieties, grief, stress – may require two or three.
Smoking cessation is typically three and the WHY weight reduction program is eight (less, perhaps, if you want to reduce only 15-20 pounds). Getting Unstuck is one to seven; Fibromyalgia and IBS between one and ten.
12. I get very anxious. Can hypnosis help with that?
Yes it can. I will be very interested in how it comes about – how do you get yourself into that state? Then we find ways to keep it from happening. We might possibly go to the source and resolve it at that level.
13. Can hypnosis help with my pain?
Yes, hypnosis can help.
How much relief will it take, for you to realize a significant improvement in your life? That is where we will start, and we will go from there. Our minds have great power to influence and modify our perceptions of the signals coming from our bodies. Through hypnosis, NLP, and Quantum Focusing I will teach you to use your thoughts, your mind power, to control your pain.
I have worked successfully with individuals diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and IBS; they have all experienced considerable improvement.