Really, I Can Hypnotize Anyone

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

(This blog was originally posted on February 23, 2016) 

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

 

“I can hypnotize anyone.”

Has anyone ever told you this? Do/did you believe them?

As I have explained in previous blogs, each one of us is in a light state of trance at least twice each day: for 30 minutes when we wake up in the morning and 30 minutes before we drift off to sleep each night. Other examples include environmental hypnosis and even believing the negative self-talk (chatter) we sometimes tell ourselves when we’re having a bad day.

The first thing I tell every new client is to reassure, “You can only be hypnotized if you want to be.” When you contact me by phone or e-mail, I can be fairly confident that you are interested in hypnotherapy as a way to help change an unwanted behavior because other strategies to do so have not been as effective as you wanted them to be. Or, perhaps you are curious about hypnosis and how it works. Maybe you just want to give it a try because you heard it is very relaxing and it worked for a friend to reduce anxiety or helped a relative quit smoking. Whatever the situation happens to be, hypnotherapy is always a choice. If you don’t want to be hypnotized, you won’t be. This is also why I include the suggestion that you will only enter the hypnotic state “with your permission and only your permission.”

Perhaps you have watched a hypnosis demonstration on a cruise or at a magic show. The hypnotist randomly picks people from the audience and/or asks for volunteers to take part in the performance. The individuals who ultimately get selected to participate are not chosen by accident. Before the demonstration begins, the hypnotist has already identified and recognized physiological changes that indicate who is already “going in” to hypnosis. These are the ones who are most likely to be suggestible to instructions given during the performance. Someone who does not volunteer or is sitting in the audience shaking his head, etc., will probably not get asked to join the act. That’s okay, because he probably wouldn’t want to anyway.

The same principle applies in hypnotherapy. During my training to become a certified hypnotherapist at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in Tarzana, California, I learned a variety of techniques to hypnotize someone. I learned how a client’s suggestibility (how you learn) would determine and direct the words and phrases I use to induce hypnosis. For example, if the client has an emotional suggestibility, metaphors and images such as “your eyelids are feeling heavy” would be the most effective way to encourage the person to close his eyes. Conversely, a physical suggestible client would respond better to the direct and literal suggestion of “your eyelids are closing.” Sometimes, if a person is highly analytical, the most effective hypnotic induction is the auto-dual technique, wherein the client essentially hypnotizes him- or herself. Regardless of the technique I use during the induction, I use my client’s own words in the hypnotic to describe goals, motivations and reasons to change an unwanted behavior and achieve a vocational or avocational self-improvement goal.

Since we are all most suggestible to ourselves, ultimately, it is the hypnotherapy client—the person sitting in that chair or recliner—who is hypnotizing him- or herself. Claiming to be able to hypnotize “anyone” is a bit of an overgeneralization. Ultimately, the person being “hypnotized” must be suggestible to you and willing to enter a hypnotic trance in the first place.

 

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Hypnosis for weight loss series: $1,250 for the 10-week series. (This is a $250 savings!) The $200 fee for the first session will be waived only when the package is purchased up front. Motivational materials and a free digital recording of the hypnosis portion of each session will be provided.

This promotion is not redeemable for cash and may not be combined with any other offer.

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, three years in a row (2019, 2020, 2021). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/

© 2022

 

 

Really?

“I can hypnotize anyone.”

Has anyone ever told you this? Do/did you believe them?

As I have explained in previous blogs, each one of us is in a light state of trance at least twice each day: for 30 minutes when we wake up in the morning and 30 minutes before we drift off to sleep each night. Other examples include environmental hypnosis and even believing the negative self-talk (chatter) we sometimes tell ourselves when we’re having a bad day. 

The first thing I tell every new client is to reassure, “You can only be hypnotized if you want to be.” When you contact me by phone or e-mail, I can be fairly confident that you are interested in hypnotherapy as a way to help change an unwanted behavior because other strategies to do so have not been as effective as you wanted them to be. Or, perhaps you are curious about hypnosis and how it works. Maybe you just want to give it a try because you heard it is very relaxing and it worked for a friend to reduce anxiety or helped a relative quit smoking. Whatever the situation happens to be, hypnotherapy is always a choice. If you don’t want to be hypnotized, you won’t be. This is also why I include the suggestion that you will only enter the hypnotic state “with your permission and only your permission.” 

Perhaps you have watched a hypnosis demonstration on a cruise or at a magic show. The hypnotist randomly picks people from the audience and/or asks for volunteers to take part in the performance. The individuals who ultimately get selected to participate are not chosen by accident. Before the demonstration begins, the hypnotist has already identified and recognized physiological changes that indicate who is already “going in” to hypnosis. These are the ones who are most likely to be suggestible to instructions given during the performance. Someone who does not volunteer or is sitting in the audience shaking his head, etc., will probably not get asked to join the act. That’s okay, because he probably wouldn’t want to anyway.

The same principle applies in hypnotherapy. During my training to become a certified hypnotherapist at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in Tarzana, California, I learned a variety of techniques to hypnotize someone. I learned how a client’s suggestibility (how you learn) would determine and direct the words and phrases I use to induce hypnosis. For example, if the client has an emotional suggestibility, metaphors and images such as “your eyelids are feeling heavy” would be the most effective way to encourage the person to close his eyes. Conversely, a physical suggestible client would respond better to the direct and literal suggestion of “your eyelids are closing.” Sometimes, if a person is highly analytical, the most effective hypnotic induction is the auto-dual technique, wherein the client essentially hypnotizes him- or herself. Regardless of the technique I use during the induction, I use my client’s own words in the hypnotic to describe goals, motivations and reasons to change an unwanted behavior and achieve a vocational or avocational self-improvement goal.

Since we are all most suggestible to ourselves, ultimately, it is the hypnotherapy client—the person sitting in that chair or recliner—who is hypnotizing him- or herself. Claiming to be able to hypnotize “anyone” is a bit of an over-generalization. Ultimately, the person being “hypnotized” must be suggestible to you and willing to enter a hypnotic trance in the first place.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2016

Hypnosis, Mind Control and The Vampire Diaries

 

 

                One of the most prevalent myths and misconceptions about hypnosis is that it is a form of mind control. This notion is so widespread that several popular books, films and television series have included storylines wherein a character is hypnotized to do something dangerous, illegal and likely detrimental to his or her survival. Cases in point: the use of “compulsion” in L.J. Smith’s young-adult novels and popular CW television series, The Vampire Diaries.

                First, let me reassure you that you cannot be made to say or do anything in hypnosis that you would not say or do when you are in a wide-awake, alert state. If your subconscious mind does not “agree” with the hypnotic suggestion, you simply would not do it. Furthermore, as a certified hypnotherapist I would not ask you to do anything that goes against your moral and ethical standards. Needless to say, it would also be unethical for me to ask you to do so.

Having said that… I find the concept of compulsion in the context of The Vampire Diaries absolutely fascinating. In my January 16, 2014 blog titled Gullibility, Suggestibility, Hypnosis I describe how a person can induce a trance state in another person and induce him or her to behave in a certain way. The process by which the vampires get their victims to act in a certain way—usually, to stay still and “don’t scream” before an attack—is practically a textbook example of how this kind of hypnotic induction works. This is why:

·         They have authority. If you are familiar with the series, you know that in addition to their myriad supernatural abilities, Stefan and Damon Salvatore and other vampires in question are charismatic, charming and, of course, very good looking. They literally command an audience when they enter a room. If you are (un)lucky enough to make direct eye contact with one of them and you do not know their true identity, you will be suggestible to their confidence, charisma and physical attractiveness. If you do know that they are vampires, your natural fear about how the encounter might end will induce its own kind of trance. Either way, you will not only will you be told what to do and when to do it, you will be helpless to resist the command.

 

·         They have a message. That message can be about almost anything, although it is usually an instruction to the unwitting victim that he or she must perform a specific task that will help conceal the vampire’s true identity in the community. Of course, the content of that message is inconsequential for the above reason(s).

 

·         They overload the person’s subconscious mind to accept the message without question. In this case, the vampire locks eyes with the intended victim and gives the instruction (compulsion) in a whisper or hushed voice. By this point, the person’s subconscious mind truly is overwhelmed by the monster’s charm, strength and powers of persuasion that the individual is willing to do as he or she has been instructed.

Whenever I watch The Vampire Diaries I must suspend my disbelief about how the characters use hypnosis—as well as my own experience of how hypnosis really works—so I can just enjoy the “fantastic” elements of the story. Remember, you would not behave that way because someone else told you to while you are hypnotized unless you would do these things or hold a specific belief when you are in an alert and aware state. Having said that, the next time a barista overwhelms you with so many options about beverage-cup sizes and pastries to accompany your quadruple latte that you actually purchase a croissant you never planned on buying, you were probably hypnotized.

 

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014