What is Hypnosis?

Films, TV and stage shows have caused a lot of confusion about what the hypnotic state is. It is not a state of sleep; it does not cause people to have control over you. It does not make you act like a chicken in the wrong hands.

It is a state everybody experiences naturally. A good example of this is when driving a car, we arrive at our destination and have a sense of “how did I get here? I don’t remember that part of the journey!” We have drifted off into a trance. We have used the unconscious mind to drive and the conscious mind has been left to do other things.

Runners who enjoy running go into a trance. People watching TV go into trances. When we are confused we enter a brief trance as we try to resolve that confusion.

There tends to be two types of hypnotherapy; direct and indirect. A direct hypnotherapist will be more authoritarian and tell you what to do in a direct way. Any stage hypnotist tends to be a good example of a direct hypnotist. “I want you to think of …”. “Now imagine a …”. “When I count to 3 you will open your eyes”

An indirect hypnotherapist will be more conversational. They will mask what they are doing in normal speech patterns. “Will you enjoy going into trance?” appears a harmless question but phrased correctly it masks the command “enjoy going into trance”

Hypnotherapy is not just about going into trance however. It is about helping you to help yourself. Asking you questions that make you think about issues in a new light. Hypnotherapy should be a fun and exciting adventure. It is about helping you learn to help yourself. Suggestions given in the trance state will, in time, set like cement and ideas planted in trance will, if left alone, grow. Problems of the past will disappear all by themselves; sometimes instantly, sometimes over a period of time.

In trance individuals can hear and remember everything. People used to think that amnesia was a part of trance but it is not a required part of trance. That does not mean that it might not be a part of a trance experience. It is highly unlikely anyone will remember a whole trance. Even people who feel they remember a whole trance, will have forgotten quite a lot just a couple of hours after. The unconscious mind, the part that hypnosis works with, has a full memory of this and everything in life.

Trances require concentration and focus. The focus moves from the external world to a concentrated self absorption. This is a very relaxing state.

People often think only weak minded gullible people can be hypnotised but in fact it requires effort, concentration and intelligence to go into trance and the smarter you are the better able you are to utilise hypnosis.

Nobody can put you into trance. The only person that can put you into trance is yourself. I can guide you and teach you how to go into trance but I can’t force you into trance.

People often worry that they won’t know when to come out of trance or they will never come out of trance. This is never a problem. If a fire alarm went off you would leave trance instantly. You will stay in trance as long or as short a time as you want to. It is my job to guide you through any concerns you have and to teach you how to discover this exciting, wonderful, healing state all for yourself.

The more experienced you become with trance the more you will discover its power to help you. You could well start to feel like you have discovered a new sense. You might liken it to opening your eyes after walking around with them shut since birth.

Trance is not a truth serum state. Someone can lie just as easily under trance as in regular life. Obviously to get the most from a hypnotherapist session you need to co-operate with the therapist the best you can.

Now that you have a better sense of what hypnosis is I hope you will be quite excited about the possibilities it can give you. You might be starting to see yourself in the future with your problems solved and perhaps even with some new abilities you never thought you could achieve.

If you have any questions or concerns please phone or e-mail