By Cal Banyan, MA, BCH, FNGH, MCPHI
When I teach hypnosis certification courses, one of the first things I need to teach is what hypnosis is. I like my definitions to be as clear and simple as possible. That is why I promote and teach this definition of hypnosis, "Hypnosis is a heightened state of suggestibility." Hypnosis is not sleep, mind control, magic or any of that.
So to understand hypnosis you need to understand what the hypnotist means when she defines hypnosis as being a "heightened state of suggestibility." First off, suggestibility is not gullibility. Basically, gullibility is something you don't want to be. Being gullible is pretty much the same as being, easily fooled. No one wants to be a fool, or be in a state of mind in which one would be easily fooled.
The “suggestibility” that well trained hypnotists induce is quite different from gullibility. Suggestibility is something everyone has all the time. It is simply the ability to accept suggestions. That is right, even in normal consciousness (not hypnotized) we are suggestible. Sometimes we go out and ask people we trust or admire to give us some suggestions, for example when we ask someone to suggest a solution to a specific problem that we are encountering. Or, we may ask for suggestions when we are considering making a particular purchase. Making and giving suggestions in normal consciousness is something that we do every day, and if we don't like a suggestion we can simply ignore it or reject it and move on.
In hypnosis we can be more profoundly affected by suggestions that we seek out. That is really what hypnosis is all about. For example, if someone like your doctor suggests to you that you quit smoking, you may or not respond to the suggestion by quitting the habit. But, if you go to a hypnotist who hypnotizes you first, and then suggests that you quit smoking the probability that you will stop smoking is greatly increased, provided that you like the suggestion (meaning that you want to quit smoking).
Suggestibility is the ability to accept suggestions more readily or profoundly than you normally do, this enables you to let these suggestions more profoundly and more quickly affect your beliefs, habits and feelings. This means that when you go to see a well trained and experienced hypnosis professional and he or she hypnotizes you, you can more quickly make positive changes in your life.
Hypnosis can help you to improve your beliefs about yourself and what you can achieve. It can also help you to change habits that you really want to change. And finally, you can use hypnosis to change how you feel about things. For example if you have a fear of spiders or speaking to groups, with hypnosis you can more quickly overcome those fears and lead a more successful life.
Factors that affect your ability to be more successful using hypnosis:
- The more comfortable you are with the idea of being hypnotized the better it will work.
- The more you want to make the change that is being suggested the better hypnosis will work.
- The more skilled and better trained the hypnotist is the better hypnosis will work for you.
To learn more about hypnosis and terms associated with the profession of hypnotism visit our Hypnosis Glossary A to Z on www.BanyanHypnosisMall.com. To learn about training in the profession of hypnosis go to www.HypnosisCenter.com. You can also contact my office at (800) 965-3390 or (714) 258-8380
